School urges SRP to change substation plan

Parents, officials and neighbors of Gilbert's Edu-Prize school gave impassioned pleas Thursday to try to sway an SRP committee to move a proposed substation away from their campus off Baseline Road, east of Cooper Road.

More than a dozen people spoke out against the substation by the K-8 charter school of 1,250 students. They cited their own research of the dangers of electromagnetic field exposure and the possible safety issues surrounding the proposed power lines and substation, and they offered several locations of alternative sites available in the area.

About five people spoke in favor of the substation, only asking for block walls to buffer the site.

Six SRP board directors listened and asked questions for more than two hours during the Facilities and Support Services Committee meeting at SRP's Tempe administration building. School officials and parents had tried for more than six months to get their issue on the SRP board of directors' agenda and were finally given the committee's attention.

Three board directors suggested SRP look at other sites in the area, and it's now a "management decision" that should be made in a couple of months, said SRP spokeswoman Patty Garcia-Likens.

The two-bay Finley substation with 69-kilovolt power lines is planned on the northwest corner in a vacant lot at Baseline Road and Monterey Street. The lot is just north of the school, about 320 feet away from the closest school building, and 420 feet away from the playground.

The plan is to have it built by 2012 to handle the electrical needs of commercial growth in the area.

Richard Hayslip, an SRP associate general manager who oversees the department responsible for finding sites for substations, said at the end of the meeting "it's a good site from an electrical view, but it's not to say there are other sites that could work."

Edu-Prize Superintendent Lynn Robershotte said after the meeting she "will be encouraged when alternative sites are legitimately pursued."

"If there are not alternative sites, I completely understand," Robershotte said. "We would love to help them and lead them to other sites."

Hayslip started the meeting to discuss why this site was chosen and ways the substation will be constructed to meet and exceed national safety standards. He showed a video of an SRP employee pointing out the safety aspects of an Ahwatukee Foothills substation with block walls, locked gates and a danger warning sign.

For the Gilbert substation, simulated electromagnetic field exposure readings were mapped out, with the highest level nearest to the planned overhead power lines. Along the fence lines of the school, Hayslip said the exposure is almost zero.

"Clearly we think that the data provided suggests no undue exposure at play," he said. "People inside the building will be affected more by computers and electrical equipment inside the building."

Despite what SRP says, Robershotte said she has seen the harmful effects of electromagnetic forces. Before co-founding and opening the Gilbert charter school in 1995, Robershotte was a teacher for eight years at Frost Elementary School in Mesa. The school had high-tension wires nearby, which Robershotte attributed to the handful of childhood leukemia, brain cancer and neurological issues at the school.

When the co-founders were looking for a site for Edu-Prize, the "absolute first and foremost issue" was finding a site that wasn't near a substation or high-tension lines.

"The sad irony is 14 years later SRP is coming in with a substation (by our school)," she said. "Just because you do it (put substations by schools) regularly, does not make it right. We value our children and our health. There are better options."

Edu-Prize parents presented the SRP committee Tuesday with a petition with 600 signatures asking the board to relocate the substation.

Dr. Eric Hampton, a physician and Mesa father of an Edu-Prize first-grader, talked about some of the cancer-causing items that were once considered safe, and suggested electromagnetic fields will soon be on that list.

"The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) suggests practicing prudent avoidance," Hampton said. "It's simply too risky. Please allow our children to learn and grow in an environment with low risk."

Sheri Drew, an Edu-Prize accountant whose kids used to attend the school, said Gilbert has laws to keep tattoo parlors, payday loan stores, pawnshops and smoke shops more than a thousand feet away from schools, and said substations should be on that list.

"We were here first," said Drew, adding that if the substation moves by the school she will likely need to find another job because of migraines she gets from high-tension power lines.

There were also residents and property owners who spoke in favor of the planned substation.

Tom Lundquist, who lives near the school in the Stonehenge community, said the health concerns only "surface to scare people."

"There's a higher probability that students will be hit by cars in this traffic-congested area," said Lundquist, adding he is a former SRP employee who researched electromagnetic fields.

Sam Kelsall, who owns the property east of the planned substation, said Edu-Prize moved to the area knowing the vacant lot was zoned for light industrial.

"The school should not have been built there," said Kelsall, adding he's also a lawyer and a farmer. He said it's the school and parents' responsibility to warn kids to stay away from the substation. "I think Edu-Prize should use this as a tremendous opportunity to talk about the dangers of the substation. I don't think SRP is in the business of parenting children."