Fight Against Ojai Radar Tower Shifts to D.C.

The battle over Sulphur Mountain moved east Wednesday to Capitol Hill, as actor Larry Hagman and Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) braved a raw wind to excoriate the National Weather Service and its much-maligned Ojai radar tower.

Hagman, an upper Ojai resident who has taken a prominent role in fighting the installation, fears the radiation it emits may be a health hazard to nearby homeowners, including himself and his family.

The 98-foot-tall weather-tracking device, dubbed the “Black Orb” by angry Ojai Valley residents, was erected late last year with virtually no advance warning to elected officials and nearby homeowners.

With Hagman back East researching the radiation issue, Gallegly arranged for the TV celebrity to schmooze with lawmakers and lure a few reporters to a frosty--and brief--outdoor press conference near the Capitol.

Hagman accused the Weather Service of “high-handed methods” in putting the radar dome on top of Sulphur Mountain.

“They snuck it in without consulting anyone in the local community,” Hagman said. “They didn’t ask my permission, nor the city, nor the county. They misrepresented themselves, lied, and they broke the law.”

Hagman, whose home is about 800 yards from the tower, also warned of possible health dangers.

“It’s not been proven to anyone . . . that (the radiation) does not cause leukemia down the line,” he said. “We’re talking about something rather insidious--you can’t see it, smell it, taste it. It’s not like a gunshot. It’s just all-pervasive and our children are directly in line for this.”

Weather Service officials have said their studies found minute levels of radiation that could not harm humans. The Weather Service said a microwave oven causes higher radiation levels.

With his environmentally sensitive Ojai Valley constituents up in arms, Gallegly recently introduced legislation to delay operation of the radar tower until a comprehensive study on possible health hazards is conducted.

But on Wednesday, he took a more cautious tone, focusing his attack more on governmental chutzpah.

“On the issue of procedure, it’s unconscionable and that is justification enough to pull in the reins,” he said. “I can’t say (the Weather Service has) broken the law. The thing that gets so complicated is that the federal government doesn’t have to play by the same laws that local, state and county government does. That in and of itself alienates the heck out of me.”

On the health issue, Gallegly said he was troubled by the medical unknowns.

“Their so-called experts . . . couldn’t give us the answer” about whether residents are safe, he said. “Asking for a comprehensive study before they activate it is a very reasonable approach.”

Gallegly also tweaked the Weather Service for constructing the radar tower during the four-day Thanksgiving holiday last year, when many residents were out of town or caught up in holiday activities.

“It probably cost a lot more money, so their agenda for doing it that weekend is suspect at least,” he said.

Also at the press conference was Donald Mallonee of Sayville, N.Y., a Long Island community that successfully fought a similar Weather Service radar installation in 1990.

Given several months’ warning of the planned radar installation, Mallonee said, the Sayville community persuaded the Weather Service to move the radar to a less populated area.

“But they’ve changed their tune now,” Mallonee said. “Instead of coming in and asking, they’re coming in and telling, and that’s an atrocious way to treat the citizens of this great country of ours.”

Officials at the Weather Service office in Oxnard contend that the public was alerted to the Sulphur Mountain project as early as 1992 during a meeting of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

The Ojai tower is one of 165 being constructed nationwide as a part of a decade-long renovation project to improve the monitoring of thundershowers, wind currents and other atmospheric conditions. The new system is designed to replace an obsolete tower in Los Angeles.

Although county and local officials have opposed the radar dome, a federal judge last month sided with the federal government and refused to issue a restraining order to block the project.