|
It's all over but the dismantlingOn Thursday, March 16, 2006, the District of Columbia and American Towers, Inc., of Boston entered into a settlement agreement that resolves the litigation surrounding the half-built communications tower in the Tenleytown neighborhood of Washington, DC. [Read the DC government's press release] Thanks to everyone for their hard work and persistence. This site will now go to sleep ... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
... and occasionally rouse itself—it looks like the dismantling has begun. August 9, 2006:
August 11: False alarm? No one up there today, and apparently nothing removed. August 16: They've been back, stringing guy wires and doing other things, no doubt. (Are these two fellows going to take the thing down all by themselves? And without a crane? Just pulleys and gravity?) The Northwest Current offers this account of the beginning of the end. August 28: The crane has arrived. (So much for "pulleys and gravity.")
What follows is a website in amber …
Welcome to the Stop the Tower website
When neighbors in the Tenleytown area discovered what was happening, they began to investigate. They uncovered details of the tower's design and found errors in the permit application and review process. In less than a week they collected close to 1,000 signatures on a petition asking the DC government to rescind the permit and stop construction. When the city did so, American Tower sued the city for $250 million in US District Court. (On June 14, 2001, the court found that the four counts dealing with federal issues were groundless and dismissed the case.) American Tower also hired a publicity consultant to coordinate op-ed pieces, print ads, and radio spots attacking the Mayor and Tenleytown residents. Where is this happening?The proposed tower would be located on 41st Street NW between Brandywine and Chesapeake streets, in the middle of a busy, mixed residential/commercial neighborhood. The area is home to many schools (some of them shown on the map below), popular restaurants and shops, and, of course, thousands of residents. Many commuters would drive within 50 feet of the tower's base, and many others would be walking even closer to it on their way to and from the Metro station. See our section on radiation and tower siting for background on tower placement, especially near schools. Several tall communications towers are located in the city block bounded by 41st, 42nd, Brandywine, and Chesapeake streets NW. Some Tenleytown residents have been misled by an American Tower brochure (mailed in November 2000) stating (four times) that the new tower will replace three old towers. In one instance the brochure says "three currently standing towers," leading the reader to conclude that the three towers now standing on the block would be replaced by a single tower. This is simply not true. The actual swap would be one huge tower for three little ones (and two of them are already gone). You can help!
Talk to your elected representatives
Be sure to thank them for their support. Read the Q&A pageAs more questions are asked, and we find the answers, we'll post them here.
This website is maintained by the Stop the Tower Coalition. Questions? Comments? E-mail stopthetower@marginata.com. [ visit www.marginata.com ]
|
which would support 169 transmitters and antennas of various shapes, sizes, and electromagnetic output. The base of the tower is 
Click 