LED Lights - Lake Worth

Tomorrow night the mayor of Lake Worth, Pam Triolo, is having a ceremony at 5:30pm for the LED lights that were recently installed in the city--4,000 of them. They tell us that it will save us $250,000 a year but I'll believe it when I see it. This is all political propaganda...making a big deal out of spending money to save money, or so they tell us.

The new lights are costing $3 million! Other small fortunes are being spent on solar panels ($5.5 mil) placed on our landfill for 2% of power, and $13 mil for smart meters through Siemens.

We seldom ever get costs on anything from city hall and they are extremely secretive about the recent mailer they sent out on the general obligation bond.  Not only did they send it out once, they sent it out a week later with taxpayer money. Michael Bornstein will not, even with a public information request, reveal how many they sent and the total cost of the mailer.

Although this video is on internal light bulb use, it is pertinent as a study that was published in late 2010 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology found that LEDs contain lead, arsenic and a dozen other potentially dangerous substances.

Lake Worth's LED Street Lights

One of two LED street lights within 10 feet of my condo unit

Excerpt from the Wall Street JournaL:

After analyzing the intensity of the new [LED] lamps, the town found that the more yellow lights produced as much brightness as the state required. The results persuaded the state to allow the town to go with the lower-Kelvin LEDs, says Michael Bornstein, Lake Worth’s city manager.

The town also chose LEDs with several brightness settings and is letting homeowners associations or residents choose the setting at the time of installation. The town is also installing shields when residents request them. The more-yellow LEDs cost as much to install as the bluer variety, says Jack Borsch, electric utilities director at Lake Worth. The shields added a tiny fraction to the cost of each light.

I underlined that sentence as it never happened at least where I live.  The installers just showed up unannounced. The City has had numerous complaints, AFTER the fact.

Light Up Lake Worth

The city says that light up Lake Worth is near completion with its LED street light conversion.

"A city-wide initiative, well underway, will convert more than 4,000 street lights to energy-efficient, cost-savings LED lighting. This project promotes traffic safety and security throughout Lake Worth, and saves the City over $250,000 a year in reduced electric usage & maintenance." (I'll believe it when they prove it).

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LED street lights

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Still being installed throughout Lake Worth. How long does it take to know if we have saved any money? A year? I still believe that the only people who will be making money on the deal is Siemens.

LED street lights can be harmful

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The replacement of our street lights to LED is costing us $3 million big buckeraoos. And we have had complaints about the light intensity. But the city is and has not addressed the harmful effects even though they were brought to their attention. Now the AMA has released its official statement that they may very well be harmful.

AMA Adopts Community Guidance to Reduce the Harmful Human and Environmental Effects of High Intensity Street Lighting

For immediate release:
June 14, 2016

CHICAGO - Strong arguments exist for overhauling the lighting systems on U.S. roadways with light emitting diodes (LED), but conversions to improper LED technology can have adverse consequences. In response, physicians at the Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA) today adopted guidance for communities on selecting among LED lighting options to minimize potential harmful human and environmental effects.

Converting conventional street light to energy efficient LED lighting leads to cost and energy savings, and a lower reliance on fossil-based fuels. Approximately 10 percent of existing U.S. street lighting has been converted to solid state LED technology, with efforts underway to accelerate this conversion.

"Despite the energy efficiency benefits, some LED lights are harmful when used as street lighting," AMA Board Member Maya A. Babu, M.D., M.B.A. "The new AMA guidance encourages proper attention to optimal design and engineering features when converting to LED lighting that minimize detrimental health and environmental effects."

High-intensity LED lighting designs emit a large amount of blue light that appears white to the naked eye and create worse nighttime glare than conventional lighting. Discomfort and disability from intense, blue-rich LED lighting can decrease visual acuity and safety, resulting in concerns and creating a road hazard.

In addition to its impact on drivers, blue-rich LED streetlights operate at a wavelength that most adversely suppresses melatonin during night. It is estimated that white LED lamps have five times greater impact on circadian sleep rhythms than conventional street lamps. Recent large surveys found that brighter residential nighttime lighting is associated with reduced sleep times, dissatisfaction with sleep quality, excessive sleepiness, impaired daytime functioning and obesity.

The detrimental effects of high-intensity LED lighting are not limited to humans. Excessive outdoor lighting disrupts many species that need a dark environment. For instance, poorly designed LED lighting disorients some bird, insect, turtle and fish species, and U.S. national parks have adopted optimal lighting designs and practices that minimize the effects of light pollution on the environment.

Recognizing the detrimental effects of poorly-designed, high-intensity LED lighting, the AMA encourages communities to minimize and control blue-rich environmental lighting by using the lowest emission of blue light possible to reduce glare. The AMA recommends an intensity threshold for optimal LED lighting that minimizes blue-rich light. The AMA also recommends all LED lighting should be properly shielded to minimize glare and detrimental human health and environmental effects, and consideration should be given to utilize the ability of LED lighting to be dimmed for off-peak time periods.

The guidance adopted today by grassroots physicians who comprise the AMA's policy-making body strengthens the AMA's policy stand against light pollution and public awareness of the adverse health and environmental effects of pervasive nighttime lighting.

###

Media Contact:
AMA Media and Editorial
Pressroom: (312) 239-4991
Email: media@ama-assn.org

Used lights dumped on John Prince Park

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Every day I am at John Prince Park picking up some lazy bum's trash. People have zero respect for the property of others but this one takes the cake! Let's hope that the LED sub-contractor working for Siemens and the city of Lake Worth had an arrangement to dump used lights on county property and they will be back later to remove.

Siemens and the Bright LED replacements in Lake Worth

I was hoping that our lights at Lakeside Point Gardens would not be changed out as the brightness was perfect as it was, but that "hope" didn't last.

Yesterday, one of Siemens' sub-contractors from Sarasota changed out (some, not all) the lights in my community. He assured me that they would be at least 5 times brighter than what we had. In other words, it will be like daylight at night! The lights they removed will be used in some other part of town, he said. That was surprising news. Let's light up the old people's life, a first!

I never was happy with the Siemens contract to begin with. Last week I got a call from a resident wondering what in heck was going on. His street light was change out and he was complaining about the brightness. I told him to call our Utility Director.

The CITY’s installation project total is $22,964,693 of which $11,259,014 is Direct Purchase of Equipment from vendors and $11,705,679 (that's MILLIONS) is the Contract Sum due to SIEMENS for the Work. Add that up.

Small fortunes on changing out light bulbs ($3 mil), small fortunes for erecting solar panels ($5.5 mil) on our landfill for 2% of power, and $13 mil for smart meters.

My new light...thank God I have shades in my bedroom. This light is within 15 feet of my apartment but I can say no criminal will be stalking around--that's a plus.

City Light is Bright - Lake Worth

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North Palmway and 5th Avenue North.

The street light has been replaced by Siemens and is a light that literally lights up the neighborhood

It's like daylight, all night long...

harsh, glary and too bright

One of the neighborhood association presidents invited the mayor to meet with her at the light. She never got a response back until later yesterday and said that she could not make it. We are paying Siemens over $23 million dollars on this bad deal until year 2031 and the mayor signed the contract.

LED lights by Siemens too bright in Lake Worth

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Dear Friend and Neighbor,

During the rainstorm Thursday night, I got an urgent call from a member of Dark Sky Lake Worth. 

I was told that a new LED streetlight was installed at the southwest corner of N Palmway and 5th Ave N.  It replaced an old burnt-out high pressure sodium streetlight. High pressure sodium streetlights are what we currently use in the City.

There were definite concerns about the LED light being too bright. Felt like daylight was being mimicked all night long, and that it light-trespassed into neighbors yards and homes .

I bicycled up to that corner before sunrise Fri. morning to see it myself.  I agree this street corner is over-lit and there is light trespass into yards and windows of the houses.  (With the new LED technology we can get good and ample lighting with lower wattage lights.  We do not have to settle for this level of harshness.  It is also cheaper for the city to use lower wattage lights.)

Last night, I took another member of Dark Sky Lake Worth to look at this new LED streetlight.  This member also agrees that it is too bright. (see attached photos & letter)

At the only public hearing last fall, Dark Sky Lake Worth officially went on record in opposition to LED streetlights that are way too bright – we called for 19-watt LED lights for neighborhoods, which is equivalent to the 80-100 watts in High Pressure Sodium lights currently in use which is ample and safe lighting for residential areas where people want to also sleep at night)

I am writing to ask you to go see this new streetlight yourself.  

I am available to join you tonight, Monday night, or Tuesday night around 8:30 p.m. 
Please call me at 561-231-3509 if you would like to go to see this light at 5th Ave N & N Palmway.

After you see the light yourself, I would love to have you write city officials, especially Mayor Triolo and City Manager Bornstein, and ask that the city not order anymore LED streetlights that are this bright, and that you don’t want these super bright lights on the street where you live and sleep.

Time is of the essence, because the city has a contract to buy more LED streetlights and you don’t speak up now, you will soon find one of these bright lights on your street corner.

Richard Stowe
Co-Chair, Dark Sky Lake Worth
561-231-3509