WYANDOTTE (WWJ) - A group of concerned Downriver parents are gathering Friday morning to protest a T-Mobile cell phone tower and generator that appeared right on top of an elementary school earlier this month.
WWJ's Charlie Langton reports about 60 to 50 people have gathered as of 8 a.m. at Washington Elementary School in Wyandotte off of Superior Boulevard.
While organizers say the event will be peaceful, it comes after weeks of mounting frustration, explosive meetings and safety concerns expressed by residents and parents regarding the controversial location of the 5G tower that will be soon be activated.
The protest, organized by the group Washington Parents for Safe Technology, plans to march from the school to the Board of Education, Langton reported.
"They believe the cell tower is a danger to students and others and want it removed," Langton explained. "The school district says, however, that it is safe."
Related
The district apparently entered an agreement with the cellphone company back in 2018, Ken Laub, finance director for the Wyandotte Public Schools, told WXYZ. The lease allowed T-Mobile to build on the school in exchange for $1,000 a month.
"Yet to get out of the contract that they signed with T Mobile, it would cost the district millions of dollars and they don't want to do that," Langton added.
Parents' main concern was the development of certain cancers in their children years down the road due to exposure to the tower. Officials maintained during a heated meeting earlier in March that the tower complies with Federal Communications Commission standards and does not pose any risks.
"The cell tower is not near the school, the cell tower is on the school!" an attendee wrote in an email to WWJ. "Besides being on the school, there is also a massive generator that has been installed in the kids playground! It is fenced off, but not covered so any kid can climb the fence!! There are danger signs along with flammable signs all over the generator!"
Parents requested to see the terms in the lease agreement between the district officials and T-Mobile.
Many others have threatened to sue to keep the tower from being completed.