Hi Ezra,
Thank you for providing me with an opportunity to comment on the latest pending Asphalt plant siting proposal. As you may see, I am an expert in the Areas of Petroleum Bio-Remediation, Water Quality, and Industrial Waste. As a Board Member of California River Watch, our organization is bound by previous legal agreements, however I am free to comment. I have observed the Green Valley Creek for 65 years. Over the last 25 years I have published several letters pertaining to the infeasibility of siting of an asphalt plant in Pocket Canyon Hwy 116. In addition to years of community opposition, and letters from numerous West County Residents and organizations, I have the following additional comments:
1. One of the most concerning local and regional issues is fire. The proposed site is located in a high fire danger area, and has critical implications for emergency evacuation routes along state highway 116. Others may have addressed this issue.
2. Air quality is monitored with equipment that is located at the Forestville Fire station, situated at a much higher elevation than the proposed Pocket Canyon site. The data it generates represent a well-mixed, average regional air quality. This data and air quality have no relationship to the air quality found in Pocket Canyon, or along Martinelli RoadPocket Canyon and Martinelli Road are subject to a seasonal inversion layer that traps smoke and air Pollutants. This inversion results in sustained levels of much higher pollution when it is generated. That pollution settles in peoples lungs, on vegetation, soil, road surfaces, vineyards, and eventually the Green Valley Creek, which is home to a listed, endangered species of salmonid, freshwater shrimp, and the drinking water supply for the Russian River.
3. The gravel mining resource is depleting, and will likely be exhausted before the capital life of the Asphalt Plant, and equipment. That suggests that at some point in the future, gravel would have to be brought to the Forestville plant by truck from outside sources, in order to make asphalt, and then later that asphalt would be trucked back in other trucks, producing increasing amounts of air and water pollution and truck traffic.
4. The Town of Windsor has expressed keen interest in siting the Asphalt Plant in their properly zoned industrial park, where proper regional planning, transportation, and air quality concerns have been addressed, and can be accommodated; This, as opposed to the Pocket Canyon gravel mining site, which is located in a designated scenic highway corridor where it threatens to endanger the public. I suggest that you interview Sam Salmon, the former Mayor of the Town of Windsor.
5. There are two quarries in Pocket Canyon. Giving one of them a business advantage over the other is inherently unfair, and would likely lead to a second asphalt facility being constructed there.
6. For more than 25 years the citizens of the area have consistently rejected the placement of an asphalt plant. It is inconsistent regional planning, and it is incompatible with a premium wine growing area. Pollutants effect wine flavor and could jeopardize Organic Standard. Who wants a vintage wine with hints of diesel and asphalt? I could go into the numerous carcinogenic, teratogenic chemicals that will be present and could be changed by the operator without public review, won’t be sampled or monitored properly, and will harm people and endangered species; but like “Pre-Crime”, the people usually have to wait until the damage is done to file Clean Water Act litigation and damage claims, while silent deaths go unnoticed. These delayed effects of cause and effect are reminiscent of Electro-vector, that abandoned, Polychlorinated Bi-phenol contaminated toxic blight, adjacent to Forestville School. Do we have to wait until we have a cancer cluster, or worse a deadly fire such as the one that destroyed the Town of Paradise? The environmental impacts of this project have been reiterated for decades, but still have not been adequately addressed, and if it is allowed to proceed, then people should hold their public officials, accountable for their abysmal regional planning.
My curriculum and experience in international petroleum remediation, industrial waste regulation, water quality consulting are available; see attached.
Sincerely,
Bob Rawson, President,
International Wastewater Solutions Corp.