U.S. Lawsuit on LED Lights Kopald v. Town of Highlands, New York Power Authority and Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc.

This is believed to be the first lawsuit on LED lights in the United States.  In contrast, the city of Davis, CA removed their LED lights at a cost of $300K after people complained they were irritating, thereby avoiding litigation.

Subsequent to this case, administrative petitions on LED lights have been filed at the FDA and the New York Public Service Commission by others.

Exhibit 2 in the Record on Appeal is a briefing book Deborah created on LED lights that explains concepts like color temperature, lumens, and watts.  Subsequent to that are sub-exhibits 2a-2y which include scientific studies, government reports, doctors’ letters to legislatures, etc. describing the dangers of LED lights.

Deborah asserts what has long been claimed by experts- that the old sodium and/or mercury vapor lighting are safest and the worst options are blue-white color temperature LEDs.

She points to alternatives like orange LEDs which are used in Flagstaff, AZ, and Yellowstone National Park and which are claimed to reduce energy impact.  At least one orange LED bulb manufacturer purports to strip out the harmful blue-white frequencies; however, many orange LEDs still contain some harmful blue-white light.

Much of this appeal turns on procedural issues, but in addition to providing important information about LEDs in the briefs and Record on Appeal, Deborah’s briefs discuss the problem with proposals to turn light poles and their attendant light fixtures into quasi-cell tower-like infrastructure.

The papers in this case describe the story of how NYPA has been pushing blue-white lights on municipalities up and down the Hudson Valley.