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Tower removed to eliminate radiation
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-05 07:50

A signal tower emitting radiation next to a kindergarten has been dismantled after complaints from local residents in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, sources from the kindergarten said yesterday.

The signal tower was built by China Mobile on the roof of a two-story building opposite the kindergarten in early July in the city's Dongling district.

"We never expected they would build a signal tower so near to us," a teacher surnamed Zhang with the kindergarten told China Daily yesterday.

"They should have removed it before yesterday," he said.

More than 500 children study in the Xiaohajin kindergarten. Teachers and parents worried the signal tower, only 20m away, might cause health hazards to children.

"The signal tower is a tower of high-frequency radiation for the third generation of mobile telecommunications and it's not right to build such a tower here," a parent told China National Radio.

"The high-frequency radiation from the signal tower is harmful to people. Children are more vulnerable to it," he said.

"It's not only a matter of my child's attendance at the kindergarten, it also concerns many children and their families."

More than 1,000 families living near the kindergarten complained the 20-m tower was perilous and wasn't built on its approved location.

Tower removed to eliminate radiation

The tower was supposed to be built in Lidu Garden of Dadong district, according to the environmental evaluation report by Shenyang Environmental Protection Bureau.

"They (China Mobile) built the tower on an unauthorized location," said Gao Yan, director of the publicity and education department of the bureau, told China Daily yesterday.

The location of a signal tower must undergo environmental evaluation so that people are aware of how much radiation will affect them. Through the evaluation, they are able to find a more suitable place where side effects can be reduced as much as possible, Gao said.

"We need to control radiation facilities, especially in areas where children, old people and patients gather," Gao said.

China Mobile could not be reached yesterday for comment.

China Daily

(China Daily 08/05/2009 page5)