Updated at 10:45 p.m. Dec. 29, 2012
RAMONA, CA—Deborah Cooney was valedictorian at West Boylston High School in Massachusetts, an economics graduate of Brown University and a vice president of Peoples Savings Bank in Worcester, MA, for 10 years.
But after being laid off during an ownership change in the mid-1990s, she decided to pursue her dream of becoming a professional musician.
She moved to San Diego.
Under the stage name Celeste, she played piano and sang at the Queen Mary, Ritz Carlton, Century Plaza Hotel and “lots of resorts, bars and dives all over the world.”
Cooney, now 50, lived in La Jolla for almost a year (when not performing on a Caribbean cruise) and later moved to North Clairemont, where she opened a studio and took in piano and voice students.
But in April 2011, she was suddenly pained by a high-pitched ringing in her ears.
“I remember the exact moment the tinnitus started,” Cooney said Friday. “I was just relaxing in my house in between [teaching] sessions. And all of a sudden it was like somebody turned something on.”
She suspects it was triggered by a bank of 100-plus wireless smart meters installed at a nearby apartment complex.
The miseries multiplied, she said via telephone from her home in rural West Virginia.
“I couldn’t stand the house anymore,” Cooney said. “I couldn’t sleep in the house. I couldn’t eat any of the food in the house … it got so radiated it got me sick. … I was eating out. I was trying to sleep on the beach.”
Her beloved cat died.
Mimi was a purebred Himalayan adopted in 2003, whose “behavior completely flipped,” Cooney said. The feline went from being an indoor “queen of the house” to one who stayed outdoors and eventually ran away, only to return “completely dehydrated, having heart palpitations … the same things I was suffering from.”
“She came back because she realized there was no place to go,” Cooney said. “Our whole neighborhood was radiated.”
Finally—on Aug. 24, 2011—Cooney decided she couldn’t sleep, work or live in her own house, so “I think I’d better just leave.”
She piled some dresses into her 2003 Hyundai Accent, left her “significant other” Frisbee champion boyfriend and drove 2,600 miles from Chateau Drive to the National Radio Quiet Zone in West Virginia.
Nine days ago, she went one more step—filing a $120 million lawsuit against San Diego Gas & Electric Co., smart-meter maker Itron, state Attorney General Kamala Harris, the state Public Utilities Commission and its president, Michael Peevey, and others.
The suit, filed in San Francisco federal court, could be a first of its kind.
It alleges:
[Cooney] could feel the immediate effects of radiation when she walked in the front door, experiencing a pins-and-needles feeling all over her skin, muscle contractions, stiffness, and pain, ataxia, dehydration, etc. Plaintiff felt a shock to her heart … at exactly 1:00, 5:00, and 9:00, as if something was being transmitted every four hours, on the hour. The shock would initiate cascading heart attack symptoms: chest pain, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, nausea, circulatory problems, edema, numbness and an impending sense of doom.
Acting as her own attorney, Cooney in her 12,000-word civil suit [attached] blames SDG&E and others for the loss of her ability to live in California and their failure to protect her from harm.
“The smart grid completely destroyed [my life] plan” of buying a home, solar panels and a plug-in electric car, she said in a phone interview.
Now, she says, “I’m having a hell of a time surviving and paying the bills. … I’m not happy here. I want to be in California—and I can’t because of the smart grid.”
She says she lives in a 10-by-20-foot rented cabin with no electricity and drives 8 miles to use a small home to shower, cook and use the phone and computer.
The suit is being reviewed by SDG&E, according to utility spokeswoman Erin Coller, who issued a preliminary response Friday night. [See attached PDF.]
“SDG&E is committed to addressing customer concerns about the safety of its services and equipment,” Coller said in part. “SDG&E supports the California Public Utilities Commission decision of giving residential customers a choice in what type of electric meters they want at their home through the smart meter opt-out program.”
Terrie Prosper, director of the PUC’s public information office, told Patch: “We do not comment on pending litigation.”
Cooney is no stranger to legal action. After an August 2008 altercation with a lifeguard at La Jolla Cove, she was sent to the county mental hospital. A staff psychiatrist found nothing wrong with her and granted her release, but Cooney sued over a 20-hour involuntary detention.
Her suit against the city and county of San Diego and lifeguard John Kerr eventually was dismissed, which a state appellate court affirmed. But Cooney won settlements or judgments in several other cases involving her former attorneys, a landlord, a tenant and a doctor who testified in her detention case.
But the experience of bringing the city and state suit “honed” her skills and “really set me up to do this federal case,” she said.
In fact, she refiled claims against the city and county and will decide by February whether to bring another suit in the La Jolla Cove case, saying she was wrongfully denied a jury trial.
“I’m not a person who really wants to sue people,” she said of the 2008 case. “I made the decision to stand up for my legal rights.”
Cooney calls San Diego a “very, very corrupt place”—worse even than New Orleans. (She once lived in the French Quarter, she says.)
“Now with the smart grid encroaching everywhere, there’s almost no place to live anymore,” she said. “It’s catastrophic.”
Cooney takes inspiration from Ralph Nader, who she backed for president several times, and calls herself an activist.
“I want everybody to be happy and healthy” with “constitutional rights honored and the environment protected,” Cooney says. So she filed the 49-page federal suit to get the attention of what she calls the government-industrial complex.
“The more you let the abusers get away with this stuff, the bigger and badder the abuse becomes,” she told Patch. “The more lawsuits we can hit them with, the less profitable it is to hurt us. … When you are dealing with corporations and the government-industrial complex, the only thing they notice is profit. That’s the only language they speak.”
She readily acknowledges she doesn’t expect to win $120 million, “but the reality is my damages are well beyond [that]. … I’m just conservatively saying $100 million, but really it’s worth billions. It’s worth trillions.”
Cooney—who prefers “natural medicine” to Western medicine—says she put a “number on [the suit] that I thought was sufficiently high enough to get the defendants’ attention and get people’s attention to the catastrophic losses that not only me but a lot of people are suffering. That number doesn’t come anywhere near what the actual damages are.”
She says she’s already made two settlement offers to the defendants. Both were rejected, she says.
“Whereas I am willing to be reasonable and just settle, they are not willing to be reasonable,” she said.
Cooney is part of a pipeline of several hundred “radiation refugees” ending up in an area of West Virginia protected from cell phone towers. She’s renting her cabin from Diane Schou—who calls herself a victim of electromagnetic hypersensitivity, or EHS.
Schou, who moved to Green Bank from Iowa, was profiled 15 months ago by the BBC, and was quoted as saying: “Living here allows me to be more of a normal person. I can be outdoors. I don’t have to stay hidden in a Faraday Cage.”
But even though cell phone towers are banned and even the local library lacks Wi-Fi, smart meters have invaded, Cooney says.
“They’ve completely dropped the ball on smart meters,” she says. “I can’t stand it here either.”
She says she visited her father in New Jersey over Christmas—“and there are no smart meters anywhere around them. …. I felt great there—all analog meters. I was thinking: Maybe I should move to New Jersey—of all places. Like who wants to live in New Jersey, right?”
Returning to Green Bank, Cooney found the first snow on the ground, and “except for the main highway, they don’t shovel or plow anything around here. … It’s a backward place. I really don’t like it here. … I’m just kind of stuck here for now.”
Cooney longs to return to the Golden State—“I moved to California and built a life there for a reason”—but would do so only through an injunction against smart meters.
She expects a vicious fight when the case comes before Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero—although Cooney says she may request a federal judge.
“The defendants in this case are probably going to use dirty tricks and disobey the law and probably are going to malign me,” she said in a laughter-punctuated interview.
“That’s what defendants usually do—especially when a plaintiff has a good solid case against them.”
No matter the outcome, Cooney has already declared victory: “I’ve created a huge problem for these people who are trying to get away with murder, and it costs them a lot of money in defending [the lawsuit]. So I’ve already won in that I’ve created a huge impact here.
“I hope that I’m a role model and that other people … will file similar lawsuits.”
Thanks for these comments. I find them very interesting on the subject of shield and unshielded technology, and getting away from the wind turbines. I was under the impression more of the newer technologies were shielded than unshielded. The scream of turbines from a distance can set off a migraine headache for me so fast its not funny. It comes from my high frequency hearing that I can't do anything about. The use of turbines will always out weigh those of us with hearing issues. It makes me wonder if they are unshielded would shielding cut down on the whine, screams, and screeches that come from them. If they are shielded would adding more or heavier shielding cut down on the noise emissions? Airplane turbines do the same thing to me only on a lesser scale.
You may want to contact the local housing authority within the area where you are, and also check www.hud.gov web site for housing help within your area. There are a number of private HUD contractors in cities and communities people are not aware of that can help with your situation and circumstances. Also local health departments can tell you where and who to contact for help. Good Luck.
Sorry to disappoint, but mine aren't made up pseudo illnesses. They are facts of nature and life I was born with, live with, and don't think about nor do they control my days. I don't consider them an illness nor would I ever waste money or time trying to convince someone they were an illness. They are part and parcel of me like my eyes, hands, feet, and more that came with me. Part of the package. I live with them. No big deal. I have better things to do and focus on. Thanks for the advice, but I'll pass on it. Besides I'm retired. This part of my life is for me, to do what I want to do, and to concentrate on my little online crafts and arts business.
Thank you for your service and dedication. Those of us who have been around or worked in land based areas similar to what you describe take the issues and concerns here as a fact of life, everyday life to live with. We roll with it. We chose the work we did or do now, and make or made a difference when and where it was needed at the time. My experiences were worth the work and problems, and worth ten lifetimes their weight in gold to be able to do the work I did. I worked for the Navy in civilian management, and civilian officer's capacities the last years of my work. I'm proud of that work, and the contributions made with the opportunities I was given to make a difference. I faced bigger challenges than what we see here. I know how hard it is for people to sometimes deal with the unknown, and issues they can't fix or that can't be fixed. They won't stop trying and while doing it they are making a difference. Maybe not immediately, but in future years. Who is to say if they are right or wrong. Its the unknown. Uncharted territory. I find it interesting and something I am used to tackling.
Nice comments. Industrial backgrounds are a world removed from the everyday 9 - 5 work force. I know because I have one from my early years in industry. I've worked with the public for years in several capacities so know they can't be blamed for trying. You never know if they are right or wrong. Who is to say? Everyone is different. They might be right. Maybe not in this lifetime, but on down the road.
Here is a solution to the Edema. Diet adjustments. Reduce salt, sodium, and sugar intakes. Avoid foods with nitrates, chemicals and MSG's. Add vegetables, fowl and fish, dishes made at home, from scratch, salads using oil and vinegar. Use onions, garlic, peppers, celery for seasonings. Switch to Sea Salt. Reduce cholesterol levels and read labels. Drink water to flush the system. Add lemon juice to the water to reduce the appetite. Have regular checkups with lab work. Stay with this and the edema will be gone. Drop it and it will come back in full bloom. Its a fact of the aging process. Add a waterfall seat desk chair to your computer desk.
I agree with your solutions. In particular the fact that you did not related to RF.
I was responding to your "realistic solutions" for posts. I left out walking and smaller meal portions several times during the day. Those smaller meals can be a piece of fruit, small serving of cheese and crackers, cup of soup, jello cup etc. I am not technically nor professionally qualified to debate the pros and cons of Smart Meter emissions nor do I want to. "IF" I find a problem that I think has something to do with the new ones in the building that concerns me then I'll find my answers or try to find them. No guarantees. I'm too entrenched in technology as a computer specialist from the end user position to throw myself into the Smart Meter issues. I know better. One specialized discipline is more than enough for my mind. My interest here is how Smart Meters relate and interact with computers, and what if any low or high level emissions may be emitted. Mainly sound emissions. When they begin to impact my computer then I'll roar as its both a business and personal tool for my use. Edema is not caused by Smart Meters, TV sets, or computers. It is a health issue some people have while others never experience it. It can also be a sign of arthritis. A Dr., one specializing in Arthritis, needs to be consulted then a family Dr. needs to take over from there for long term care.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome of the wrists can come from keyboard use with computers or from other repetitive wrist motions such as daily long distance truckers driving motions involving their wrists, or daily city driving as bus drivers do. In my past work one of my functions was to serve as an OSH representative for my department. As fate would have it two of my people developed carpal tunnel syndrome. At the time the condition did not have a name. Injury reports were submitted as unknown causes suspected to be caused from their daily work as typists. C J Moses needs to discus the swollen wrists with his Dr. as it could be work or daily activity related with the wrists affected. Smart Meters do not cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
I concurr with your evaluations there too.
I have a couple of different meters that I use but would have to borrow one to measure the low-power of cell phones and smart meters. This testing really needs to be done in a laboratory where you can isolate the particular device for testing. The meters that are affordable are not sensitive enough for low power applications. They pick up too much noise and surrounding RF. One of my meters I installed a yagi antenna which makes it very directional which was how I was able to determine the RF problems with compact fluorescent lights. It becomes sensitive enough to measure frequencies from smart meters and cell phones but not RF power as accurate as you need. Measuring RF power and frequencies is not something that a typical home owner would do. I would venture to say that most people don't have a clue what any of that means. Which is likely how we get to the smart meter debate the first place. People are afraid of the unknown.
that said, I ordered a RF meter from the UK. expensive but not in the thousands as the professional ones are. I feel pretty confident in the results that are consistent with others from my reasearch and conversations with professionals . I have a milligauss sensor as well and when a professional came in I was pleased that my meter matched their high power equipment as we went room to room. If more average or not so average homeowners had one I do think Americans would be more outraged.
Brand/Model? I use an ICOM R3 which also gives me a visual.
Have a demonstration of your meters with cell phones and smartmeters. Invite the public to come watch. Have your meter next to the smartmeter, five feet away, ten feet away, and twenty five feet away. Let people come touch and ask. Earth Day in Balboa Park could be a good event, as is any public forum. People will bring their cell phones, you can have a smartmeter, and dumb meters for comparsion. Also have three or four types of light bulbs, and microwave ovens. If your cause is a worthy on, you will start doing something like this. As I said - I'll keep an open mind, but I want to see proof. Also - no sale of crystals.
It has been more than illuminating!
Trust me. I'm doing it! Anyone who will listen.