Suit seeks moratorium on new cellphone towers at Lake Tahoe

By SCOTT SONNER

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A federal lawsuit seeking a moratorium on construction of new cellphone towers at Lake Tahoe claims Verizon Wireless and regional regulators are failing to adequately consider potential harm to public health and the environment under antiquated rules that turn a blind eye to modern technology.

A local resident and conservation groups who filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Sacramento say they’re trying to protect the same majestic views Mark Twain wrote about in the 1860s at the mountain lake straddling the California-Nevada line.

They accuse Verizon and the Tahoe Regional Protection Agency of engaging in the kind of shenanigans Huckleberry Finn and other Twain fictional characters used to dupe unsuspecting victims.

The lawsuit alleges Verizon and its local agent, Sacramento-Valley Limited Partnership, laid the groundwork for the most recently proposed 112-foot (34-meter) tower in South Lake Tahoe, California with false promises to bring a high-speed broadband network to everyone at the lake.

“In what appears to be a classic `bait and switch’ scheme, the telecoms had promised fiber-optic infrastructure at Tahoe in exchange for massive subsidies but now push their wireless agenda for greater profits,” the suit says.

“The telecoms routinely claim that further facilities are justified to meet a ‘coverage gap’ and provide for additional capacity, but they have actually created that `gap’ and lack of capacity themselves by failing to provide the promised fiber network,” it said.

Read the full AP news story here https://apnews.com/article/public-health-mark-twain-health-sacramento-lawsuits-6069c0d4514816e7bcc72feefbad33f8

The Eisenstecken Family

Monica Eisenstecken is a lifelong resident of South Lake Tahoe, California. She lives with her two young boys, her husband, and her father. Her home is located just 150 feet away from a proposed 112-foot Verizon cell tower. Over 30 mature trees have already been cut down in anticipation of the tower.

Monica has a medically-diagnosed sensitivity to wireless radiation called electromagnetic sensitivity. If Verizon erects its tower, the high levels of radiation emitted by the tower will make Monica’s home uninhabitable for her.

Monica is viewed as a local hero and environmental conservationist who has persevered, for two whole years, to prevent big telecom companies from transforming the pristine Lake Tahoe region into a “Smart City.”