Live Free or Die

Death is not the worst of evils. - Gen. John Stark

8 NHEC customers seek halt to smart meters - Union Leader

“We should have a right to say yes or no, whether we want this or not,” said Dan Arseneau, one of the plaintiffs who appeared in the North Haverhill court to ask Judge Peter H. Bornstein to issue an injunction to halt installation of the smart meters until “the hazards and concerns of NHEC's customers” can be reviewed thoroughly.

His neighbor, Joan Wirth, came to court armed with the results of numerous studies that show the health hazards associated with exposure to even low levels of such radiation.

“How can we, as human beings, disregard that and place our children's health at risk?” she asked the judge. “I believe it's illegal to put people in harm's way with no choice.”

Officials of the Plymouth-based cooperative say, however, that Bornstein must rule in their favor since the petitioners are not claiming the co-op's “smart meter” installations violate any federal, state or local law.

They said that federal law — specifically Federal Communications Commission regulations — take legal precedence. That, they say, pre-empts the neighbors' attempt to have a state court “second guess the FCC's expert regulatory assessment that wireless communications devices, which conform to its standards, are safe,” the co-op's Concord-based attorney, Mark Dean, wrote in response to the injunction petition.