This link contains URL's for articles from various industry and government web sites that discuss safety hazards and liability issues from wireless telecommunications installations . These include back-up battery problems including fire, explosion, and leaking of sulfuric acid as well as liability for RF interference with a variety of industrial, medical and home electronic equipment in the neighborhood and real estate property devaluation. The cost of liability insurance to cover all of these hazards along with decreases in property values should discourage churches and historic sites from hosting wireless facilities despite the promise of revenue from the wireless provider. It is an excellent article to distribute to local planning and zoning board members as a jumping off point for education about the complex issue of siting wireless telecommunications facilities. It also makes the point that things attached to towers tend to project outward when they are blown off.
Nothing simply falls straight down to the ground.
Falling ice is a problem as well. If you are in a tropical climate like Florida or Hawaii, a tower will still be subject to storms with strong winds so large setbacks are needed due to tower collapse and equipment being blown off the top of the towers. Copy this and distribute to your local planning and zoning board members. Its author, John W. Pestle, is co-chair of Varnum, Riddering's Energy and Telecommunications Practice Group. It's very readable, even for the non-legal types.