SPRING BROOK TWP. — Lynn Lorenz is excited for the day when her radiation and chemotherapy will all be a thing of the past.

She has lost her hair and strength at times, but never her will to fight against breast cancer.

Now she is praying that a cell tower Cingular Wireless wants to build near her property won’t put her two young sons’ health in jeopardy.

“I cannot wake up 15 years from now to discover that my children have any illness or disease that can be attributed to this tower,” she said.

Many residents with children in the neighborhood also share Mrs. Lorenz’s fears.

Experts, and Cingular Wireless, however, say there are not any proven health effects associated with living near a cell tower.

Like a street lamp

“It’s essentially as safe as living next to a really strong street lamp,” said Dr. Declan Mulhall, assistant professor in the physics and engineering department at the University of Scranton. “These residents have legitimate concerns and reasonable fears and suspicions, but the fact is that a tower can’t ionize atoms because it’s too weak.”

A cell tower emits radio frequencies from its antenna to transfer information to a cell phone.

The antenna is so high off the ground, however, that the amount of radiation likely to reach the ground is actually very low and very weak, said Dr. Miguel Penafiel, who has studied bioelectromagnetics at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., for 20 years.

“Antennas radiate to the horizon, so the amount of radiation people may experience at the ground is fairly small,” he said.

Experts agreed people are safer with a higher tower.

Terminology frightens

“Actually, the higher the tower, the better it is for the safety of the people below because the wavelengths are less intense at the bottom,” said Dr. Paul Fahey, professor in the physics and engineering department at the University of Scranton.

“I think the thing that scares people the most is the terminology.”

Though a higher tower may be preferred, the tower Cingular Wireless is proposing is 42 feet higher than what township ordinances allow.

Another zoning hearing is scheduled for July 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the Township Building to accept what officials hope is the last round of testimony.

Better service needed

If the Spring Brook Township tower is approved, the company also intends to construct two other towers at the opposite ends of town to create a tripod of towers, said attorney Christopher Schubert, who represents Cingular.

Previously submitted plans for a 150-foot tower along Route 502 between Matthews and Swartz Valley road swas rejected in October because of poor accessibility and failure to meet the fall zone, building and zoning inspector Jay Schieber said.

The company is still looking for other sites near Swartz Valley Road, said Jason Young, who works with the company.

A fall zone is an area two-and-a-half times the height of the tower that ensures if the tower were to fall it would not hit someone’s property, according to township zoning laws. The currently proposed tower does meet the fall zone.

Even if they oppose the placement of the tower because of health reasons or aesthetics, residents agree that better cell phone service in the area is a must.

Contact the writer: kfedysky@timesshamrock.com