MUSD forum to focus on Lakes school site

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The Maricopa Unified School District will host a final informational forum regarding the proposed Lakes school site in Rancho El Dorado focusing on the feasibility of land usage for a middle school and also address the presence of the high voltage power lines.

The forum will be at 6:30 p.m. March 25 in the media center at Santa Rosa Elementary School, 2100 N. Santa Rosa Drive.

In February, the district presented information concerning the Lakes proposed school site to the Pima Butte Parent Teacher Organization. About 15 parents attended the regularly scheduled PTO meeting. Information was discussed concerning the presence of the high voltage power lines and their proximity to the school.

This was the second of three scheduled community forums to discuss this issue.

At the first meeting, the presentation also focused on the tentatively proposed middle school site and the proximity of the site to high-voltage power lines. The Arizona School Facilities Board requested that efforts be made to address this issue with area constituents before providing any site approval.

Presenters included John Flores, superintendent for MUSD, and Paul Jepson, assistant to the city manager for the city of Maricopa. Both Flores and Jepson presented research associated with studies linked to the presence of high voltage power lines near residential housing and facilities that accommodate large groups of people over an extended period such as schools, nursing facilities and day cares.

Information was presented regarding electromagnetic fields associated with the high voltage lines and in particular the causal link with childhood leukemia. Research has provided some support for this link, but the susceptibility for an occurrence has been labeled as “weak.” The distance that the actual school site will be away from the power lines is about 600 feet and there is some documentation that supports that at that distance the presence of electromagnetic field emissions are similar to a typical residence.

Jepson stated that the power line transmits 230 kilovolts of electricity and many of the studies used 500 kV in their documentation.

Guests asked questions about the possibility of additional power being added to the line as a result of the growth in southern Arizona. The answer remains to be researched. Domestic and international studies were presented during the evening and copies of the research studies were available for review.

A representative from Gilleland Brubaker Architects, Neil Pieratt, was present and provided additional input.

The district desires to garner as much input prior to the tentative construction of this proposed site. Additional “town hall-styled” meetings are being considered and the community will be encouraged to attend.

For information contact call (520) 568-5142 or email Tom Beckett at [email protected].

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