Dutra Plant is Flawed and Unhealthy for Petaluma Residents

Petaluma Patch welcomes opinion pieces from all sides of the Dutra issue. Think the project will improve the local economy by creating jobs? Improve our streets? Let us know by sending a letter to the editor at karina@patch.com

By Sheri Chlebowski
President of Moms for Clean Air 

Last week, the Sonoma County Superior Court ruled against clean air, our children's health and future, wildlife, open space, tourism and our community and decided it is acceptable to place a toxin-emitting, noxious smelling asphalt plant across from our most valued park, upwind of schools, businesses, home developments, marring the gateway to our city and county with industrial blight.

All of us at Moms for Clean Air are committed to our position that this project is legally flawed and unhealthy for Petaluma’s residents, our economy and is dangerously close to Shollenberger Park. Legal errors in Judge Chouteau’s ruling make it possible to overturn this decision in a higher court in San Francisco.  Taking the case out of Sonoma County may help our case.

This Monday, January 9, the Petaluma City Council will discuss their position on the Dutra lawsuit in closed session. We must encourage the City Council to stand up for what is right, fair and just for our community. It is unacceptable for a County government to disregard the wishes of the majority of Petaluma residents as well as our City Council, as the Board of Supervisors did when they approved the Dutra project.

Why Should We Fight?                                                                      

Time and again the American public has been told that something that brings benefit only to large corporations is harmless and/or legal.

Remember when pregnant women were told smoking was okay?  Health and safety regulations usually lag years-sometimes decades- behind what science tells us is true.

Health and Particulate Matter:

As we learned from UCSF Pediatric Environmental Health Specialist Dr. Brock-Utne at the October 2010 Health Care Forum regarding the impacts of the Dutra project, current regulatory standards may not reflect the recently established medical research demonstrating that particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5) from diesel emissions (trucks) has a very detrimental effect on health, especially in children.

PM2.5 reaches the lower lungs, then the bloodstream and cells of us all.  In children it disrupts the normal development of the immune system, changing the way their DNA is read, making them more prone to asthma as well as respiratory and food allergies. 

Since carcinogenic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)-another emission of asphalt plants-can attach to PM2.5 for a free ride into the body, exposure to emissions from a Dutra plant would increase the risk that Petaluma’s children would develop cancer later in life. 

This is especially true of children living or attending school in East Petaluma, downwind of the plant.  There are dozens of schools within a three-mile radius of the project site.  Newer medical research further demonstrates that PM2.5 is linked to diabetes, heart disease and other serious illnesses.

In addition oxides of nitrogen (NOx) – another type of diesel emission – have been linked to breast cancer in postmenopausal women.  It is important to remember that the Dutra project was approved by the Board of Supervisors even though NOx emissions from the Dutra plant exceed current regulatory standards.

Schools

There are 5 schools less than 1 mile from the project site including the new River Montessori School. 20 schools that are within 2 miles, 18 schools within 3 miles and 17 schools less than 10 miles from the proposed project site. The majority of these schools are preschool and elementary aged children. 

Monitoring Regulations and Mitigations:

From the serious impact of coal mining on the health of surrounding communities to the horrific gas pipe explosion and fire in San Bruno, devastating examples of government failure to update and regulate are far too common. 

Although the Draft Environmental Impact Report accurately reported a PGE gas pipeline on Dutra's property, the County failed to notice when Dutra's project engineer supplied permit mapping erroneously moving 2 PG&E gas pipelines on the adjacent Shamrock property.  The county didn't take corrective action and allowed the project to improperly and extremely dangerously place a barge facility over the PG&E gas pipelines. Had that been built, we could have seen a San Bruno-type disaster.

Given such an egregious oversight, how can we believe that the county would monitor the more than 160 regulations and mitigations in this project that are supposed to protect our health and safety? 

Traffic Congestion and Diesel Trucks

This project never was and never will be appropriate for this location.  Dutra’s project proposes 250 diesel truck trips going in AND 250 diesel truck trips going out of the asphalt plant daily. This number would be considerably higher for the first three years of operation during which Dutra is not required to use the river for transport. The increase in traffic congestion entering and exiting Petaluma will be unimaginable.

The Project Must be River Dependent:

Dutra has no docking facility.  After erroneously supplying the Coast Guard with the wrong river maps the Coast Guard determined that the proposed docking facility on the Dutra property would unsafely impede river traffic.  They now plan to use Shamrock’s existing dock, even though the court record shows a letter from Shamrock stating it is not in Shamrock’s best business interests to do so.  There is no contract between Shamrock and Dutra. 

If Dutra can’t have a dock of their own and Shamrock won’t let them use their dock, what will happen in three years?  The Supervisors have said that this project MUST be river dependent. Will the County force Dutra to stop asphalt production and tear down their buildings - just pack up and go home when they can’t use the river? Highly unlikely. Petaluma could be stuck with this increase in diesel truck traffic and pollution for decades.

Measure D – Scenic Corridor:

This ruling is the first assault on Measure D.  Measure D was a 1998 ballot measure approved by a super majority of the Sonoma County voters, which created a scenic view corridor from the Marin County line to the Petaluma City limits. This ruling degrading that ballot measure would empower the County Supervisors to approve further industrial uses in the scenic corridor.  Again, this could affect our community for decades.

Biological Resources

Shollenberger Park and Alman Marsh are home to hundreds of birds and wildlife.  Visitors come from distant places to enjoy and see the wildlife in migratory season and year-round.  Shollenberger Park is a migratory stopover for thousands of birds.  National Geographic lists Shollenberger Park as a top destination to visit along the Northern California Coast. 

Shollenberger Park has become an important ecotourism attraction for Petaluma.  Hundreds of school children participate in the Petaluma Wetlands education program each year at the park.  A heavy industrial asphalt operation 200 feet from Shollenberger Park would ruin all of this.  The Federally Endangered Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse lives in Alman Marsh and Shollenberger Park, feeding on the abundant natural pickleweed habitat. 

The Federally Endangered Clapper Rail and State Threatened Black Rail nest in and reside in Alman Marsh and at Ellis Creek right next to Shollenberger Park.  Protecting wildlife, including endangered and threatened species, from the intense, ongoing noise and excessive ground vibration that would be caused by Dutra's construction and operations is essential.  Protecting wildlife from the noise, lights, human activity and heavy industrial operations that could devastate wildlife habitat at Shollenberger Park and Alman Marsh, is something we must work to achieve - so our children and wildlife can enjoy the quiet, peaceful repose and natural life that makes this area our precious natural jewel. 

Tax Dollars:

The City must defend and protect our multi-million dollar investments in Shollenberger Park, Alman Marsh, Ellis Creek and the new wastewater treatment plant. The tax dollars of our residents cannot be thrown away.  The litigation record has been completed and paid for by the community.  The cost of appeal is a small percentage of what we have already invested.

The City could lose the $1,000,000 it receives (every year) in transient occupancy taxes (tourism dollars) from people that come to Petaluma specifically to visit Shollenberger Park. They stay in our hotels, eat in our restaurants and shop in our shops. 

Judge Chouteau echoes the thoughts of former Supervisor Paul Kelley stating that this area of south county is an industrial site.  Clearly they have not seen the Marina, Shollenberger Park or the new Riverview home development. There is a reason appellate courts exist- to reverse flawed decisions such as this.