FCC ISSUES STOP WORK ORDER TO AT&T, VERIZON AND T-MOBILE
The FCC said Fri. it had issued a stop work order to AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile to investigate allegations that the 3 carriers were in violation of federal environmental law in constructing antennas on a water tower in Bay Head, N.J. The Commission said this was the 2nd time that it had shut down work at the site due to environmental concerns.
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The first order was issued in July, when the Commission received a complaint from a N.J. resident alleging that the same 3 carriers didn’t comply with a federal law requiring them to take into account the effect of their actions on historic properties before starting construction, said David Rotenstein, a consultant specializing in the National Historic Preservation Act. The complaint alleged that the colocation of antennas inside the Bay Head Historic Dist. “adversely” affected historic properties. Rotenstein said the first stop order was lifted after the complaint was reviewed and dismissed by the FCC on July 22. However, he said, the Commission issued a new stop order Aug. 15 when it received a new complaint. He noted T-Mobile and Verizon continued to work on the site after the order was issued, prompting the Commission to release a remand order Fri.
The carriers didn’t adequately provide documentation to the State Historic Preservation Office, Rotenstein said. He said Verizon never initiated the consultation process with the State Historic Preservation Office, and AT&T started that process July 23, a day after the first stop order was lifted.
According to a report by Rotenstein filed with the FCC on behalf of Bay Head Concerned Citizens, the water tower “introduces visual elements that will diminish the integrity” of the Bay Head Historic Dist. and the All Saints Church. “Because of the pre-existing intrusive water tower and tank, the 2 historic properties are subject to cumulative effects that are compounded by the colocation of the antennas and their appurtenances,” the report said.
The report recommended that: (1) The carriers start a dialogue with the N.J. State Historic Preservation Officer to develop a consultation process to evaluate the “discrete” and “cumulative” effects to the Bay Head area. (2) The parties develop methods to resolve the adverse effects to the area that are consistent with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s rules.
A Verizon Wireless spokesman said the company had “addressed all the issues” raise by the environmental groups and had complied with all the recommendations it had received from the N.J. State Historical Preservation Committee. He disagreed with the report’s conclusion that “a significant number of potential consulting parties were not invited to participate in the planning process,” saying “it’s been an open process in terms of people could express” their views on the impact antennas could have on the Bay Head area.
The spokesman said the company had stopped its work on the project once it received the order but “we've been following all the steps” of the procedure that goes back to March: “We are convinced that once the issue is evaluated, we'll be back to work on that site… All we are trying to do is to improve coverage for the community.”