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Statement by Courtney Gilardi after Pittsfield Board of Health Votes to Send Cease and Desist Order for Verizon Cell Tower 

Apr 7, 2022

Breaking: On April 6, 2022, the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Board of Health voted to send a cease and desist order to shut down a Verizon cell tower. The order will be sent to Verizon by certified mail on Friday April 8, 2022. The Board took this action because families living in the neighborhood of Shacktown near the tower on 877 South Street Pittsfield MA reported wireless radiation-related health issues soon after the tower became operational in 2020 and since then, have been working tirelessly to turn the transmissions off. 


Statement by Courtney Gilardi after Pittsfield Board of Health Votes to Send Cease and Desist Order for Verizon Cell Tower 

Tonight the Board voted to issue the cease and desist. It is planning to go out to both Verizon and the Farley-White Corporation by certified mail by Friday. The order, however, as I understand it, is conditional. If the Mayor does not release funds to support the hiring of legal council, the order will be dismissed without prejudice.
Shacktown is so grateful for the advocacy and care of Board of Health Chair Nurse Bobbi Orsi. She has done her due diligence and has done the job the council set before her. We are so grateful for her countless conversations with doctors and subject matter experts, her examination of the peer reviewed science and her consideration of the medical and personal testimony submitted. She has been a tireless champion for health and safety.
We are also grateful to all the Board of Health members past and present who supported us and at the end of a long investigation, urged protective action now. None of this has been easy. This has been very public and very personal. There has been so many false promises of help and hope and so many obstacles. We hope the price for our health and safety isn’t one more to have to overcome.

We pray that the Honorable Mayor supports the Board of Health’s decision and stands with the 17 harmed and the three with cancer. We pray she honor’s the Board of Health’s careful, conscientious and unanimous decision and frees up funds for the Board to retain legal council.

We are so grateful for our City Councilors who advocated for us, our Board of Health members who took action on our behalf and the community for their support. We know there could be another long road in front of us, but tonight, a new chapter has begun. He have hope for healing, and hope that one day soon we can come home.
Courtney Gilardi