Kathy Hemenway - World Citizen & Resident of Snowflake, Arizona
After leaving Needles, California, my next stop was at Homolovi State Park,
near Winslow, Arizona. While staying there, I visited my friend and
fellow environmentalist, Kathy Hemenway at her home in nearby Snowflake,
Arizona. Some might think that the Holbrook Basin
and Snowflake in particular is a remote location for a former software
engineer from Menlo Park, Californian to live, and they are 
right.
When she built there in 1998, remoteness from sources of
electromagnetic radiation and other sources of environmental sensitivity
were her main goal.
right.
When she built there in 1998, remoteness from sources of
electromagnetic radiation and other sources of environmental sensitivity
were her main goal.Although sensitive to volatile organic compounds all
of her life, Kathy became severely ill after unexpected exposure to
pesticide pollution. When an exterminator accidentally sprayed her yard
in Menlo Park, it precipitated a debilitating illness. From that time
on, Kathy was hypersensitive to both chemical pollution and
electromagnetic radiation. Exposure to cleaning solutions or electronic
equipment was more than she could take on most days.
Although
she admits that the design of her home might be “overkill” for the
problems she then faced, she designed a state-of-the-art “safe house”
for herself. From its concrete-block construction, steel roof and steel
panels inside all interior walls, to ceramic tile floors and walls, she
attempted to eliminate all sources of chemical and electromagnetic
pollution. If there was a logical theory on how to ameliorate any of
those issues, she employed it in the construction of her home.In 2009, Kathy Hemenway’s pioneering work in “safe
house” design and construction caught the interest of the Los Angeles
Times. The result of that association was a landmark article on
“environmental illness” and ways to avoid its most deleterious effects.
Although
she does not consider herself a radical environmentalist, Kathy does
monitor potential threats to her sanctuary. Over the years, she has
helped keep giant wind turbines away from residential areas in
Snowflake. From a atop her tiny travel trailer,she allowed the Arizona
Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to facilitate air quality monitoring on her property. When the subject of emissions from nearby Arizona Public Service (APS)
coal-fired power plants in the area comes up, Kathy attends every
meeting. When she and I met, it was to discuss the possible impact of in-situ potash mining planned near Holbrook, Arizona. As of this writing, she was in Tucson, Arizona for a meeting of the Arizona Legislative Mining Caucus. She hoped to meet the potash fellows, as well as the state geologist, state oil and gas administrator, and others. 
Over
a decade after her departure from the rigors of software engineering in
Silicon Valley, I am pleased to report that Kathy Hemenway is well,
safe and happy in Snowflake Arizona. If you contact her, please be aware
that she lives in two worlds. One of her worlds connects to all via
telephone, the internet and visits with friends and neighbors. Yet, the
address of her house does not appear on Google Maps, MapQuest, Yahoo or
Bing. If you follow any of their directions, you will end up on a dirt
road to nowhere. All of that is acceptable to Kathy Hemenway. Visits to
her unique world are by invitation only.
Email James McGillisBy James McGillis at 05:47 PM | Environment | Comments (0) | Link
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