Wyandotte parents optimistic about cell tower lawsuit after judge issues injunction

A handful of Wyandotte parents suing T-Mobile, city and school district officials over a cell tower on top of Washington Elementary School say they are buoyed about their chances now that a court issued a preliminary injunction blocking the company from activating the tower.

The parents are preparing to defend against motions to dismiss the case in a hearing Aug. 21 after Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Adel Harb converted a temporary restraining order to a preliminary injunction last week, blocking T-Mobile from activating the 5G cellphone tower on top of the school while legal proceedings continue.

"We feel very good about our chances," said Josh Castmore, a Wyandotte parent and attorney representing the residents referring to the preliminary injunction. "This was a huge win for us. We had a lot of parents in our group that ... their decision on where to send their kids to school next year was riding on this decision."

Three Wyandotte parents filed a lawsuit against T-Mobile, city officials, Wyandotte Public School District officials and the board of education in June. The parents claim that T-Mobile's cell tower on the school's chimney, violates city zoning ordinances and that the company was issued an illegal building permit.

Harb considered four factors before granting the injunction: the likelihood that the parents will prevail on the merits of their case, the danger and risk they would face without the injunction and the potential for public harm without the injunction, according to an order issued last week.

The process in which T-Mobile was granted permission for the cell tower was "atypical" from the steps outlined in Wyandotte's zoning ordinance, Harb said in the order.

"A violation of said ordinance may have occurred," Harb said in the injunction order. "As such, a possible violation of the zoning ordinance would constitute a nuisance per se."

The parents also have standing, or a substantial interest different from the general public, Harb said. They are seeking monetary damages and for the cell tower to be relocated.

"I do think this bodes well for our chances in the case certainly," Castmore said.

Wyandotte Public School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday evening.

T-Mobile originally attempted to move the case to federal court last month but it was returned to Circuit Court.

The placement of the tower stirred controversy since February, when parents in the downriver community have been speaking out against the tower, arguing radio frequency emissions may pose a health risk to schoolchildren.

Parents pulled their children out of school, spoke out at school board meetings and marched in protest over the tower through the spring.

They say the Federal Communications Commission's regulations on cell tower radio frequency emissions were outdated. The district said it is bound by a lease agreement with T-Mobile that was approved and signed by the school board in 2018.

The FCC's radio frequency exposure guidelines, which were last updated in 1996, recommend "a maximum permissible exposure level to the general public of approximately 580 microwatts per square centimeter." 

"Exposures exceeding the guidelines levels, however, are only likely to be encountered very close to, and directly in front of, the antennas," the FCC said. "In such cases, precautions such as time limits can avoid exposure in excess of the guidelines. Individuals living or working within the building are not at risk."

hmackay@detroitnews.com