“If we don’t have communication, Jake (Kopek) and his men, the Fire Departments, EMS, they can’t do their job,” White said.
By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
The Tucker County Commission signed a resolution September 11th opposing continued intervention in public safety and cellular/wireless communications by the National Radio Quiet Zone. The National Radio Quitet Zone, according to the Green Bank Observatory website encompasses approximately 13,000 square miles near the border of Virginia and West Virginia and was established to “minimize possible harmful interference to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, WV and the radio receiving facilities for the United States Navy in Sugar Grove, WV.”
According to Tucker County Director of Emergency Management and Parsons Fire Department Chief Kevin White, Tucker County falls within the border of the National Radio Quiet Zone. “Tucker County falls under the umbrella of the National Radio Quite Zone, which is the Green Bank Observatory,” White said.
White said that most people don’t feel that the NRQZ affects them much, but it has a large impact on first responders in the area. “Most people say, ‘Well what does that do to us?’” White said. “ Well, Law Enforcement, 911, Emergency Responders, you’re only allowed to put out so much of a signal for the radios.”
White said that due to the terrain, radio coverage in the area is spotty and can be lost easily. “So in a lot of places around here, you’re not going to get great radio coverage anyway,” White said. “You go around a turn and your radio goes BONK, you don’t have enough signal.”
According to White, the mandates surrounding the NRQZ have been in existence since the inception of the Observatory. “The government has mandated this as long as Green Bank has been there, but there has never been any funding to help put up more towers or anything like that to help alleviate the burden on the Counties,” White said. “Randolph, Webster, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Tucker, really fall inside that. Pocahontas really sees the hardest hit because its based right in their County.”
White said the hope is that the resolutions will allow emergency responders to increase signal strength and place more towers to increase signal coverage during calls and emergencies. “We are asking that these resolutions be signed by the County Commissions in all the Counties that are affected with the hopes that it will give us some leeway with strength of signal, maybe funding for more towers to provide better coverage.”
Cellular phone coverage is also affected, White said. According to White, many first responders are relying on cell phones for notifications and calls. “You know, even now, our cell signals are also affected by that,” White said. “Our responders depend so much on cell signal for notifications on the system that you all purchased for us several years ago called IAMResponding,” White said. “You see a lot of Firemen, they aren’t carrying pagers on their sides anymore cause their radio acts as the pager.”
The lack of coverage in the County, White said, is attributable to the NRQZ and a 50 watt restriction on the towers on top of the mountain. “So there are areas in the County where cell service isn’t as good,” White said. “A lot of that is due to the National Radio Quiet Zone and the restrictions that are placed on – I think it is 50 watts is the maximum we can put out off of our towers on the mountaintop.”
White said there is also a restriction on the direction that signals can be broadcast due to the Observatory and its location. “Its also directional dependent,” White said. “You can’t point it at a certain area because it might be pointed towards the Green Bank area.”
The restrictions directly affect communication, White said. White equated communication to the linchpin of emergency services. “So all these things affect communication,” White said. “Communication, as anyone will tell you, is where it all starts, they’re the center. They touch the football every time. If we don’t have communication, Jake (Kopek) and his men, the Fire Departments, EMS, they can’t do their job.”
The resolution was passed by unanimous vote in a motion made by Tucker County Commission President Mike Rosenau.