In West Virginia’s most remote mountains are two research facilities that use radio waves, and county governments recently launched a campaign to change how residents can access communication technology near the facilities.
Since the 1950s, the federal government has designated parts of Pocahontas and Pendleton Counties as a National Radio Quiet Zone, meaning radio, TV and communication signals must operate at low power. Now, 10 West Virginia and Virginia counties are asking the government to change these restrictions to ensure 9-1-1 calls get to emergency responders.
Pendleton County’s Emergency Services Coordinator Rick Gillespie has spearheaded the campaign. He said volunteer fire and emergency responders in the quiet zones often miss calls from 911 dispatchers. “There are times that the call goes out that one or more of those individuals that could respond to that call do not receive it,” Gillespie said.
One of the reasons this area was originally selected as a quiet zone is because the geography of the mountains blocks radio frequencies from traveling in. In 1958, long before smart phones, the federal communications commission designated the area as a radio quiet zone, which put further limitations on technologies.
Two research facilities operate inside the quiet zone. One in Pendleton County is used by the National Security Agency. A second facility, the Green Bank Observatory in Pocahontas County, has the largest radio telescope on the planet. There, astronomers use radio signals to study deep space, and listen for signals far beyond our solar system. In other words, Mulder and Scully could have set up an X-files bureau inside these remote mountains.
But with technological advances, including satellite internet, some like Gillespie, want fewer restrictions inside the quiet zone. In recent years, he’s met with Green Bank scientists to talk about these challenges, and each side said they’re willing to work together.
But Gillespie said he’s frustrated by how slowly the process is going. He also feels shut out by a recent announcement from October, announcing a new agreement between the Green Bank Observatory and Starlink, a satellite communication company operated by SpaceX.
“We utilize Starlink for emergency communications, the public uses it,” Gillespie said. “We have all used it for the last two years and now it’s been turned off.”
But Chris De Pree, a Greenbank astronomer, said the new agreement does not mean Starlink has been turned off, but it provides residential satellite internet service to 99.5 percent of people inside the quiet zone.
“This new arrangement does nothing to reduce coverage for roaming and residential units that were operational before,” De Pree said. “All of that remains the same. The big change that has happened, is that fixed, residential service is now available for many many more residents of the quiet zone."
There are some technical details that might explain why, as Gillespie said, some people who used to be able to get Starlink’s roaming service are now no longer able to. De Pree explained there are several spaces around the facilities where signals aren’t technically supposed to get in, but occasionally they do, which has interfered with their research.
Under the new agreement, Green Bank and Sugar Grove actually communicate with Starlink when they are doing research, and Starlink aims their satellites away from the facilities during these times.
Gillespie said this creates a problem: what if an emergency occurs during those times when the satellites are facing away?
“Right now all we’re hearing about is how important of a mission that Sugar Grove is, and how important the mission at Green bank is,” Gillespie said. “No one wants to talk about the daily mission of saving lives out here in these communities.”
Green Bank is currently working on a study to find solutions to some of these problems, said De Pree. “There are technical solutions to these problems. And I think that we have to work together.”
Gillespie said for any solution to work, his community will need financial assistance to pay for new technologies.
He added that it would also be nice if Starlink would agree to speak with them. So far, Gillespie said, the company hasn’t agreed to have a meeting to talk through their concerns.
Nine West Virginia counties and Augusta County in Virginia have signed resolutions asking for help to allow more people inside the quiet zone to better communicate with emergency dispatchers.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
