Falmouth Onshore Wind Electric Cable EMF

The Falmouth Select Board on Monday, November 9, 2020, received an electric-magnetic field document from a contractor for the offshore wind turbine electric cable. The document was prepared and dated October 28, 2020. The following table can be found on page 91 of 210 pages on the PDF reader.

Falmouth Electric Cable EMF Technical Memo:

Expected Magnetic Field Levels vs. Health-Based Guideline
Magnetic Field (MF) Health-Based Guideline (ICNIRP) 2,000 mG""Directly above buried cables, in middle of beach 10 mG""Directly above buried cables, at edge of beach 10 mG""Directly above buried cable transition vault, in parking lot or street median 350 mG""Directly above buried cable duct bank, in roadway 500 mG"
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In the United States, we use milliGauss - mG) to measure magnetic fields.

The proposal is to place a 220,000 to 345, 000 volt buried onshore cable and Right of Way, ROW, through residential locations of Falmouth at between 800 and 1200 megawatts. For referencing this amount of power the output of the Pilgrim Nuclear Plant was around 700 megawatts.

The electric right of way is under Falmouth Heights Beach at 10mG to a connection in the beach parking lot at 350 mG. It then runs underground of Worcester Park and Worcester Court at 500 mG, across Davis Straits, to Jones Road, to Gifford Street, all at 500mG, and then either to Lawrence Lynch substation or Blacksmith Shop Road again at 500mG.

Falmouth has a wind turbine bylaw 240-166 that addresses these issues by definition:

WIND ENERGY SYSTEM (WES)
All equipment, machinery, and structures utilized in connection with the conversion of wind to electricity. This includes, but is not limited to, transmission, storage equipment, substations, transformers, service and access roads, and one or more wind turbines.

In addition the alternative route under Falmouth Heights Beach is 10mG to a connection at the foot of Central Park Avenue at 500mG. It is buried diagonally across Central Park ballfield at 500mG, under Crescent Avenue, to Falmouth Heights Road, to Davis Straits, and to Jones Road. From there, the path is the same as the preferred route stated above all at 500mG.

One simple fact is standing directly on top of a buried electric cable right of way generates a higher electric-magnetic field than that of the same voltage of an aerial cable. The EMF levels drop off more rapidly to the sides of the right of way in buried cables vs aerial. In other words, people walking or playing over the cable route is more exposed than an aerial cable. The width of the right of way has not been determined.

"The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) recommends exposure limits for the general public of 2,000 mG for magnetic fields and 4.2 kV/m for electric fields."

The Falmouth right of way is between 220,000 and 345,000 volts at 500mG.

With rapid advances in electromagnetic field (EMF) technologies and communications, children are increasingly exposed to EMFs at earlier and earlier ages. Consistent epidemiologic evidence of an association between childhood leukemia and exposure to extremely low EMF at earlier and earlier ages.

One of the major issues of EMF involves human carcinogenesis. Since the first report on residential ELF-EMF and childhood leukemia in 1979.

In a 1985 decision, the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) approved an edge-of-ROW, right of way level of 85 mG as a benchmark for comparing different design alternatives. Since then this benchmark has not served as a generally applicable standard or guideline. Today, the EFSB assesses electric- and magnetic-field levels from transmission lines on a case-by-case basis with a focus on practical, low-cost options to reduce magnetic fields along transmission line rights-of-way aka mitigation.

Mitigation could mean signs, fencing, stainless steel ducts with SF gas, or burying the cable deeper along the residential right of way.

Note # EMF And Power Lines: What’s a Safe Distance
https://emfgrid.com/emf-and-power-lines/