Now they are charging that the utility not only has produced EMF levels above those pledged before the substation was expanded, but also underreported the levels that it measured several months ago.

“They flat-out lied,” said Tom Joyce who lives at 49 Dover St., next door to the station and above his restaurant, Radio Mexico Cafe.

Joyce and other residents appeared last month before Community Board 1’s Seaport/Civic Center Committee to complain that Con Ed is going back on its pledge, made at CB1 meetings last year, to control EMFs from the station.

At a November meeting, Con Ed officials provided a one-page summary of EMF levels that its consultant had measured in August inside Joyce’s building, which shares a wall with the station. Con Ed said the readings—taken on the side of the building where the company had installed EMF shielding—were mostly within their predicted range.

The residents said that the numbers slightly exceeded the targets, and requested a complete copy of theconsultant’s report.

Joyce said that when residents finally received a copy last month, they discovered that Con Ed had not disclosed all readings taken in apartments, some of which were double those the company had reported.

According to the report, which was reviewed by the Trib, the higher, undisclosed readings were measured along walls facing Dover and Front streets. “Only the measurements taken along the wall adjoining the substation,” the report states, “reflect the contribution from the substation.”

Con Ed says that when the shielding is fully installed, it will hit its targets, but the company and the residents have disagreed on exactly what was promised. When asked what measurements Con Ed had committed to, spokeswoman D. Joy Faber declined to answer. However, Faber said, it is too soon for residents to make charges. “Once the shielding is complete, we will continue to monitor the EMF numbers and sort through the data.”

Con Ed first said the shielding would be installed by spring of 2002, but now says it will be done by late winter or early spring of this year.

The residents also say that their independent measurements show EMF levels on the streets around the substation that are much higher than those taken before additional transformers were installed. They want Con Ed to shield the sides of the substation and underground utility cables running underneath Dover and Front streets. But Con Ed counters that EMFs on the street are caused by other sources, and that it promised only to meet targets inside the residential building.

In any case, Con Ed officials said that there is no proven link between EMFs and illnesses such as cancer. But the residents aren’t willing to take any chances.

“If there’s any risk or question of risk, it should be addressed by Con Ed,” said Tina Martin, the mother of an eight-year-old-daughter. “It shouldn’t be their word against ours. They should do the right thing.”

Last year, Chelsea residents opposed a Con Ed plan to build a substation in their neighborhood, partly over EMF concerns. The Board of Standards and Appeals denied Con Ed the zoning variance needed to build the facility.