Hum of Power Lines Near O.C. Schools Galvanizes Parents

Barbara Emerson says she can tell when she’s near Roch Courreges Elementary School in Fountain Valley just by the crackle and low hum of the nearby power lines. And like a growing number of concerned parents here, she believes those sounds mean danger.

“What parent would ever send her child into a school that could mean their death?” Emerson said, reflecting the fervor common among those worried about the potential health effects of the utility equipment. “There’s just too much evidence that points to uncertainty over these power lines.”

Power company officials and some scientists insist that the fears are unfounded--that there is no proof electromagnetic fields from the power equipment pose a public health threat. The amount of exposure from high-tension wires, they argue, is no greater than from household appliances such as toasters and electric shavers.

“In 22 years and more than $50 million in research, no one has ever conclusively proved (that electromagnetic fields are) dangerous to health,” said Kirby Holte, a scientist for Southern California Edison Co.

But Emerson, citing studies that suggest a possible link to some cancers, is not convinced. And tonight she will lead 40 members of a parent group before the Fountain Valley School District Board of Trustees to demand independent tests of every classroom and schoolyard in the 5,900-student, 12-school district.

So far, tests by parents and schools officials have found widely different levels of electromagnetic intensity.

Parents are particularly concerned about 600-student Roch Courreges, because high-tension wires carrying 500 kilovolts (500,000 volts) stand less than 100 yards from the playground.

“This issue is no longer an isolated event,” said Emerson, mother of three. “It concerns the whole community now. We can no longer sit here and endanger our children and the community’s lives.”

High-tension wires and substations have been an integral part of the suburban landscape for years. Recent studies, however, have raised questions about whether the power equipment poses a health threat.

Public health officials say the dangers posed by electromagnetic fields are poorly understood, but acknowledge that evidence is mounting that long-term exposure to the electric fields may increase the risk of leukemia and brain tumors.

“Ten years ago, most scientists thought EMFs (electromagnetic fields) were not harmful,” said Richard Guimond, director of the Office of Radiation Programs for the federal Environmental Protection Agency in Washington. “But since that time, with the increased amount of data available, more and more of them are re-evaluating their positions.

“I’m not saying it’s time to go to the roof and start screaming,” Guimond said. “But the evidence is getting stronger that there may be a link between these waves and cancer. There still needs to be a lot of questions answered and more research done.”

The state Department of Health Services, in a draft report issued in June, cited recent health studies that conclude that fields of more than 3.0 milligausses can almost double the risk of cancer, posing the same kind of threat as second-hand smoke. A milligauss is unit of measurement of magnetic field strength.

Normally, the expected rate of cancer in the general population is one in 10,000 children. The state report cites studies showing that the presence of both electromagnetic fields and second-hand smoke increases the number of cancer cases to between 1.5 and 2 per 10,000 children.

In addition, studies during the last three years have suggested that continuous exposure to a field stronger than 3 milligausses can increase the incidence of childhood cancer.

At Roch Courreges School, measurements varied widely, depending on who took them. The school district and Southern California Edison found levels between 0.8 and 1.5 milligausses throughout the grounds, said Cheryl Norton, district spokeswoman.

But Allen Brandt, the attorney representing the parents group, said his measurements show concentrations as high as 25 milligausses. A reading of 15 milligausses was registered on the kindergarten playground, he said.

No one can explain the wide discrepancy in the readings, but they were taken after Emerson and her parents’ group filed a lawsuit against the district in February to keep their children out of the school. The district plans to transfer 30 students to the school from Fountain Valley Elementary School, which it recently closed.

The parents lost the legal challenge in May when an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled that the school district followed proper procedure in determining that the electrical fields near Roch Courreges were not dangerous.

The case, however, gained national note last week when it was mentioned prominently in New Yorker magazine in an extensive series on the alleged dangers of power equipment. And the parents have continued a crusade against power lines and substations that is now gaining attention elsewhere in Orange County.

Jerome R. Thornsley, superintendent of Capistrano Unified School District, said the issue of electromagnetic fields first caught his eye when he saw it discussed on the “60 Minutes” television show.

“It was a bit unsettling,” said Thornsley, who subsequently postponed plans by the district to install a cellular transmission tower near an elementary school.

In North Tustin, an unincorporated area, a number of residents are banding together to fight plans by Southern California Edison Co. to convert a temporary substation on 17th Street into a permanent facility. The county is preparing an environmental impact report on the proposal at the request of Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, who says residents have expressed their concern to him.

Southern California Edison officials have consistently maintained that their facilities pose no appreciable health risks.

“This whole issue of EMFs as a health risk came up roughly 22 years ago in a paper in the Soviet Union,” said Holte, the SCE scientist who also is a professor at USC.

At a recent meeting with north Tustin residents, the company tried to allay fears by handing out a booklet prepared by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. While the booklet tries to answer questions about electromagnetic fields, it also warns that living near power equipment may double or triple the risk of cancer. In contrast, it says cigarette smoking increases the risk 20 to 60 times.

North Tustin residents, such as those in Fountain Valley, aren’t comforted.

“Nobody really knows what is the frequency that affects cells in your body,” said Linda Primrose of Newport Beach, who has joined the North Tustin fight because her three grandchildren live directly behind the substation.

Times staff writer Marla Cone contributed to this story