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Flyer delivered to residents in Cow Hollow
- December 19, 2003 Go to Project History and CHA Concerns Dear Cow Hollow Neighbor, Last Friday night, representatives from Lucasfilm Ltd. sent out an electronic note that included a letter from PG&E on the Lucas Powerline. The PG&E letter provided no new information to assuage our fears and concerns, but was obviously written in an attempt to minimize concerns that have been repeatedly voiced by neighbors on the new Lucas project. You can see their communication and our response below. The failure of PG&E or Lucasfilm Ltd. to DIRECTLY address the issues we have consistently raised verbally and in writing adds to our skepticism. There is much that can be debated about how PG&E has conducted themselves in this process. Many of us feel they have repeatedly failed to comply with the law. Regardless of the legality, two of the most important issues for the neighbors on the Lucas Powerline are: (1) the dysfunctional planning process and, (2) the health and safety concerns. Planning Process In the planning process, there has been no public review of the decision-making involved with bringing an industrial amount of power through an existing residential and small business neighborhood. Alternatives exist that have not been explored or explained to us. The current route, which is 8 blocks out of the way, appears to have been driven by the need to place a capacitor close to but outside the Presidio. WE have now been told that the capacitor will be placed in the Presidio, creating additional questions about the selected route and the decisions behind it. The City and County of San Francisco supports our position with the adoption of Resolution No. 0032016 by the Board of Supervisors on December 16, 2003, to request "…Lucasfilm Ltd. and Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Inc. to work with the community on alternatives to its Bay-Fillmore-Filbert-Lyon route for supplying power to the Letterman Digital Arts Center in the Presidio, and to ensure that the route reduces impacts on San Francisco neighborhoods to the greatest extent possible…and…that best protects the health and safety of San Francisco's residents." Health and Safety Concerned Neighbors have focused on the TOTAL capacity of power,
or wattage that the Lucas Powerline could carry: 24 million watts
= 24 megawatts = 24 mW -- not the As noted in the DHS Fact Sheet, the California PUC and Department of Health Services have not concluded that exposures to EMFs are safe or are a health hazard, yet the results stated in the EMF and the NIEHS Working Group Report to Congress disagrees. Titled Assessment of Health Effects from Exposure to Power-Line Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields, "a majority of scientists on this working group voted that the epidemiology studies of childhood leukemia and residential EMF exposures provide enough evidence to classify EMF as a possible human carcinogen." Where to Go From Here We are pleased that discussions are underway between the Presidio Trust, Lucasfilm Ltd. and PG&E to locate the capacitors, one for each powerline to be activated, in the Presidio. Nonetheless, our concerns regarding the routing of the Lucas Powerline and the decision process remain as strong as ever. Our Goals Are: To the residents and small business owners at the October 23, 2003 Community Meeting hosted by the Cow Hollow Association and Gavin Newsom's Office, PG&E's Gary Tognozzi stated and Matt Lonner agreed, that the only other location in San Francisco where an industrial application goes through a residential neighborhood is Mission Bay. Cow Hollow is not Mission Bay! We challenge Lucasfilm Ltd. to stop treating this as a public relations problem, but send someone with operational authority to discuss the genuine remedies and solutions. Sincerely, Brooke Sampson
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