Simi Residents Want Power Lines Buried : Utilities: Group is concerned about exposure to electromagnetic fields from 66,000-volt wires running along Tierra Rejada Road.

By J. E. MITCHELL

June 14, 1995 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Concerned about exposure to electromagnetic fields, a group of Simi Valley residents has petitioned the city to bury the high-voltage power lines that run along Tierra Rejada Road.

Although researchers have yet to establish that the fields or EMFs cause cancer or create any other health threats, residents whose homes abut the roadway and the 66,000-volt Southern California Edison power lines say they would rather be safe than sorry.

“We don’t feel that it is right that we be exposed to this potential risk,” said Tim Wert, 37, a Siskin Place resident who spearheaded the petition campaign. “Essentially, we are being asked to be guinea pigs in one very large lab experiment.”

By moving the power lines underground, Wert said the city would also reduce the number of potentially fatal car accidents along the busy thoroughfare when motorists smash into the 80-foot-tall poles from which the power lines are suspended.

After receiving more than 100 signatures on petitions at the City Council meeting Monday, Mayor Greg Stratton directed the city’s public works department to research the costs involved and report back to the council.

“I’m sympathetic to their situation but, to be very honest, I don’t think that the city--even with Edison’s help--can afford to undertake a project of that magnitude,” Stratton said.

Stratton said he has not taken a position on the health effects of electromagnetic fields, but pointed out that history is full of examples of things considered safe but ultimately found to be toxic or harmful to humans.

“I don’t think anyone really knows,” Stratton said. “We’ve learned the hard way on some things. If you’ll remember, asbestos was once an extremely popular building product. Obviously, nowadays we know better.”

Power lines along sections of 1st Street were buried a few years ago, Stratton recalled, using state-mandated funds contributed to the city by Edison. The utility must provide about $275,000 annually to the city for such operations.

Carol Larson, an Edison spokeswoman, said placing the transmission lines underground would cost at least $1 million a mile--and that’s if there are no lesser voltage distribution lines that need to be buried.

One factor in the high cost is that the underground pipe in which the transmission lines are placed has to be constructed of special materials that quickly dissipate the extreme heat generated by the high voltage.

The nine poles that heft the transmission lines--as opposed to lower-voltage neighborhood distribution lines--stretch about half a mile along the roadway.

The issue surfaced last week when residents in the new Oak Tree and Glen Oaks housing tracts noticed small marker flags along Tierra Rejada indicating where the nine power poles are to be moved to make room for the road to be expanded.

While residents expressed concern about the health impacts of EMFs, Jack Sahl, one of Edison’s senior research scientists, said Tuesday that state and company research has not provided clear evidence that prolonged exposure to the fields causes cancer or other serious health problems.

“There is some evidence that EMFs can cause cancer among some laboratory animals, but even then we are not seeing consistent cancer responses,” Sahl said. “The research being conducted with higher primates such as monkeys is equally inconclusive.”

Even so, an Edison brochure on the subject of EMFs states that some studies have found increased incidents of cancer, including cases of pediatric cancer, among families living near power lines.

For Siskin Place resident Jamey Hall, the cost of placing the power lines along Tierra Rejada underground pales in comparison to gambling with the health of residents.

“When it comes to people’s health, they shouldn’t be taking chances,” the 28-year-old sales manager said. “By undergrounding the lines now, they will avoid taking that risk and ultimately save money. We all know that labor costs will only continue to rise in the future.”