 "Photo: Gabe Dickens/Cardinal Points")
The installation of a cell phone tower in the Adirondack Park is more an issue of vehicular safety than an environmental issue, Keith Tait, director of the environment, health and safety department at Plattsburgh State, said.
“There is no scientific evidence that cell phone towers pose a risk to human health,” Tait said.
However, Tait, who frequently travels along Interstate 87, said he is against the recently approved construction of a cell phone tower along the Northway.
He said he believes the sheer ugliness of it will destroy the aesthetics of the park and take away from the fact that it is an ecologically unique place.
Tait said he is aware that cell phone service is lost upon entering the Adirondack Park, but he said he believes people have a false assumption that they can turn on a phone wherever they are and get a signal. He emphasized that cell phones and mountains are a bad combination.
Robert Bucci, a PSUC student, is in favor of the cell phone tower.
“I think it is a good idea,” he said. “I know it could have some aesthetic problems, but I heard they are disguising it as a tree.”
Bucci said he has heard that people have died on the route because they encountered car trouble or got into an accident and were unable to call for help because they had no cell phone service.
Vanessa Groff, another PSUC student, said she is torn as to whether she agrees with the decision.
“In our society, we have become so dependent on cell phones,” she said. “But when you think of a cell phone tower going up in a park, it just makes it seem like we are degrading our environment.”
However, Groff said the fact that people have died on that route makes her think the constructing of the cell phone tower would be beneficial.
Tait said there are numerous state troopers who patrol the Northway consistently.
He also said the temporary, portable stations that serve the same purpose as the cell phone tower seem like more reasonable solutions.
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