Power lines near school stay, but parents worry

One transmission line, a 69,000-kilovolt line run by Arizona Public Service, is 21 feet from the nearest building. The other, a 230,000-kV line run by the federal Western Area Power Administration, is 87 feet away.

The district considered moving the lines because — while scientists disagree on actual risks — some studies indicate electromagnetic fields, or EMF, given off by the lines and other electronic devices, increase cancer risks. It would have cost $1.4 million to relocate the lines

The board’s decision upset Horseshoe Trails Elementary School parent Debbie Barrett, who said her children won’t go to Sonoran Trails as long as the lines stay. The inconclusive studies have her worried, she said.

“One percent chance is too much for my kids,” she said.

There are no laws in Arizona that say schools must be built a certain distance away from power lines.

Sonoran Trails isn’t the only school in the north East Valley where parents have raised EMF concerns. The issue also comes up periodically at Sequoya Elementary School in the Scottsdale Unified School District. And it recently attracted the attention of Sen. Carolyn Allen, RScottsdale.

Sequoya principal Marilee McCracken said there’s usually one family a year who questions how an APS substation that’s adjacent to the property affects students. Parents most recently approached her last year, when about six families met with her and a district representative, she said.

One of those parents, Kirstin Tully, said the meeting and EMF readings taken at the school in December were enough to assure her that her children weren’t in danger.

“(The readings) were insignificant — it would be a much bigger problem vacuuming or blow-drying your hair,” she said.

The Sequoya readings, which average 2 milligauss, or mG, are comparable to readings at Sonoran Trails.

Last month, the Cave Creek district commissioned a study at Sonoran Trails that measured levels of 5.5 mG at the edge of the school building nearest to the power lines, with levels decreasing farther away.

In comparison, microwave ranges generate 10 mG two feet away, according to the Western Area Power Administration.

The Sonoran Trails land was acquired a number of years ago, said Kent Frison, assistant superintendent of operations and finance. He said he saw the site before construction started in September 2005, but the power lines didn’t raise concern.

“There are no Arizona guidelines . . . and no federal guidelines that have anything to do with it,” Frison said.

That could change. Allen said she has been approached about the power line issue, but hasn’t decided whether she would take up it up if she is re-elected in November. She said she needed to research EMF issues, talk to legislators from Cave Creek and find out whether other states have legislation on power lines near schools before making a decision.

Such legislation is rare. Under California law, schools must be at least 100 feet away from overhead power lines that are between 50 and 133 kVs, and farther away from higher voltage power lines. England also regulates power line distance from schools.

Since the Cave Creek board vote, the superintendent’s office hasn’t had more than three phone calls from either side of the issue, said Linda Schaener, district spokeswoman. And the principals at Sonoran Trails and Horseshoe Trails haven’t had parents contact them, either.

But parents are talking to one another about their concerns, said Regina Davis, a parent at Horseshoe Trails. She intends to approach the school with her concerns once she’s done more research. Until then, she doesn’t feel comfortable.

“It’s too much of a risk,” Davis said. “You can find people on one side who say it’s OK, and researchers on the other side who say it’s not OK.”

And while it’s still a few years until her children, a first-grader and a secondgrader, are old enough to go to Sonoran Trails, she said she won’t send them to the school unless the power lines are moved.

“Nobody can tell me with 100 percent accuracy that my children won’t come down with some sort of illness,” Davis said.