A Michigan school board member resigned Tuesday amidst a legal dispute involving the placement of a T-Mobile 5G antenna on a tower at Washington Elementary School in Wyandotte, according to local outlets.
The dispute began after T-mobile was approved for a contract to construct the 5G antenna in the summer of 2018 according to CBS. As the community became aware of the construction plans, parents, residents and students expressed their opposition to the antenna project due to their fears of the potential health effects of 5G, the outlet reported. (RELATED: ‘Stop Grooming Our Kids’: Protesters Clash Over Pride Month Assembly At LA Elementary School, Video Shows)
The cell phone tower standing on top of Washington Elementary in Wyandotte has been creating chaos for faculty and families for months and Tuesday night’s meeting added gasoline to the fuel.
— WXYZ Detroit (@wxyzdetroit) June 28, 2023
Parents filed a lawsuit on June 1 against T-Mobile and multiple city officials alleging the company ‘hornswoggled’ city officials into issuing the district an illegal building permit according to The Detroit News. The lawsuit also alleged the proposed antenna would be responsible for “Transmitting noxious, dangerous wireless radiation,” according to the outlet.
“Faced with chicken-hearted and lily-livered elected and appointed City and School District officials who will not enforce the law and are afraid to stand up to a foreign-government-owned corporate bully, the good citizens of Wyandotte have no choice but to choose ‘self-help,'” Josh Castmore, the attorney representing the parents, wrote according to The Detroit News. “Unless enjoined by this Court, T-Mobile will begin transmitting noxious, dangerous wireless radiation from the antennas atop the Washington Elementary School continuously all day, every day at a site where young children study and play during their most important developmental years.”
School Board member Frank Tarnowski resigned Tuesday, as he felt he was the only school board member speaking out against the antenna, according to the outlet. Tarnowski had been a school board member for less than a year, the outlet continued.
“Basically, in their [attorney’s for the district] brief, they stated that the tower wasn’t harmful to children. There were no studies that would prove it. And that the board did nothing wrong,” Tarnowski told CBS. “And it was basically a snapshot from T- Mobile, and I didn’t agree with it.”
Discussions surrounding 5G radiation and its health effects have been relatively mixed, as not all experts agree, according to Forbes. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organization have declared 5G, safe according to the outlet. Other studies have suggested non-ionizing radiation, including 5G, is linked to adverse effects in real-life situations
Parents celebrated a win Wednesday as T-Mobile’s attempt to move the pending lawsuit to federal court was thwarted, sending it back to state court according to The Detroit News.