Sparks Fly Over Power Lines and Their Impact on Prices : Utilities: Debate grows about the health and economic effects of electromagnetic field energy. Until recently, concern had been centered on the towers’ looks.

Attorneys, appraisers, real estate agents and residents living near major power lines in the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County are watching to see the outcome of a trial under way in Orange County Superior Court in which a group of homeowners are claiming that their property rights have been compromised because of upgraded power lines next to their homes.

The plaintiffs went to trial this month demanding that San Diego Gas & Electric Co. buy their homes and pay the 1990 market price for them--1990 was the year when power lines near their properties had more power added to them. The utility sees this as an attempt by homeowners who have seen the market plummet to tap into the deep pockets of the utility.

This case--and several others like it throughout the country--points to a growing debate about the health and economic effects of electromagnetic field energy, also known as EMF. Until recently, neighbors have been mostly concerned about the aesthetics of towers nearby--sometimes reaching 90 feet high--or an unattended electrical station. But medical researchers and scientists now report that we may be harmed by long exposure to a wide range of electrical sources, from small appliances like a fan to major transmission lines.

None of the recent studies are conclusive, but children and the elderly who are exposed to elevated levels of EMF may be at an increased risk for brain cancer and leukemia. Scientists have shown that EMF can alter basic cellular functions and may possibly interfere with workings of the human immune system. Pregnant women may also be at increased risk of miscarriage.

The new concerns over possible health hazards are prompting a growing number of homeowners and home buyers to learn more about electromagnetic fields and their affect on health and home values.

“There will be fewer people interested in a property adjacent to a power line,” said Howard D. Greenberg of Tri-Valley Appraisal Services in Woodland Hills. “It’s not an adverse condition per se,” said Greenberg, but he still discloses proximity to a power line both to would-be lenders and buyers.

“It is a topic that is so sensitive now,” said Kathy Mehringer, vice president and regional sales manager at Fred Sands Realtors in Westlake Village. “I don’t think there is a standard of practice for the real estate industry on this issue yet.” In fact, the California Department of Real Estate’s Environmental Hazards guide for homeowners and buyers doesn’t even mention EMF, she said. But according to state law, whenever a property enters escrow, the seller must disclose defects and hazards to a would-be buyer, but it is still uncommon for EMF information to be listed.

While Mehringer cannot recall a transaction at her company that was adversely affected by the existence of power lines on or near a property for sale, she said she could imagine just such a thing happening. She isn’t certain if nearby power lines really have an effect on property values, though. “If I am a buyer and I am concerned about EMF, I would probably choose not to buy a particular property instead of just seeking a lower purchase price.”

Cheryl McCartin, one of the Orange County homeowners suing San Diego Gas & Electric, is convinced that upgraded power lines have diminished the value of her property. The McCartins purchased their home in 1988 for $730,000. For 18 months, McCartin tried to sell her home (the latest asking price was $700,000), but didn’t get one offer. “We’ve been trying to sell our home and we can’t sell it,” McCartin said. What she did get were comments from realtors and potential buyers about the power lines.

Around the time that the McCartins bought their home, power lines on 45-foot-tall towers on an adjacent parcel of land were generating 12,000 volts each. In 1990, the local utility company upgraded the lines by adding another 12,000-volt circuit, although the towers remained the same height. The McCartins filed suit in November, 1992, claiming that the magnetic fields coming from the power lines are a direct intrusion on their property or, to use the legal jargon, they claimed an “inverse condemnation” and an unconstitutional taking of their property without just compensation.

The McCartins and their neighbors want the court to issue an injunction requiring the utility to buy their homes for the fair market value as of the date the upgraded power lines were installed in July, 1990. This would be substantially more money than sellers could get in today’s more deflated market.

Utility companies locally and throughout the country are understandably worried about what happens if the McCartins succeed in their court case.

“There will always be a certain percentage of people who don’t want to live near a power line, but that doesn’t mean the property values will be diminished,” said Mike Poizner, principal real estate officer at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. “Right now, we don’t have hard market data showing that buyers pay less for property near a power line.”

Besides, he said, when the McCartins bought their home in 1988, there already was a very noticeable power line there. “It seems they weren’t that concerned when they bought in the first place,” Poizner said.

In the Los Angeles area, Poizner said, the DWP has done very little upgrading of power lines in the past few years. “Each time we have updated power lines, we have tried to not increase the amount of EMF.” That, he said, is done by employing new technology and getting different electromagnetic fields to sort of cancel each other out.

John Tinker, senior counsel for Southern California Edison Co., thinks that the new trend of seeking property-related compensation from utility companies has more to do with the depressed real estate market than science or real concern among residents near power lines.

“The Southern California real estate market is such that a lot of people are trying to find a reason their homes aren’t selling,” he said. “They’re looking for someone to help compensate them for the drop in market values.”

While the DWP and Edison both say they haven’t been sued because of property-related claims stemming from the EMF debate, such lawsuits are not far off, predicted Louis Slesin, editor of Microwave News, a bimonthly newsletter based in New York City that chronicles the EMF controversy for its 1,000 subscribers.

“We’ve been tracking EMF for 15 years, and clearly there is an effect on property values,” Slesin said. “People sometimes can’t get agents to even show a home in the vicinity of a power line. This is going to be more and more tested in the courts.”

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While scientists debate the seriousness of EMF as a health hazard, Slesin said, attorneys and homeowners will increasingly seek to stop new and expanded power lines with lawsuits such as the McCartins. “Residents are discovering that they don’t need to argue the health issue,” he said. “They can more easily litigate the issue of property values.”

Residents who are concerned about levels of EMF can have their home checked out room by room for free.

The number to call for information or to schedule an appointment for DWP customers is (800) DIAL-DWP. Edison customers can call (818) 812-7380.