Wetlands or smokestacks?

Editor: The new Dutra asphalt plant should be located away from Petaluma’s Shollenberger Park. I am a graduate of La Tercera Elementary, Kenilworth Junior High, Casa Grande High, and, soon, University of California, Santa Cruz. It disturbs me to hear that such a unique wetland is being threatened in my hometown while I am studying conservation biology in college.

My dad and I first stumbled upon the dirt bike ramps and trash heaps that would become Shollenberger Park when I was 8. The wetland is now a flourishing park enjoyed by a variety of visitors, but has Dutra’s existing plant leached latent dangers into the soil?

A letter published in the Argus-Courier on April 13 notes that asphalt production must not be affecting the area since wildlife has persisted throughout the operation of the original plant and can be easily seen today. Yes, it is easy to spot a bird, but it is not easy to see if there are enough individuals to sustain a species’ population. Nor is it easy to see if chemicals are being assimilated into their bodies. These questions must be addressed systematically, rather than by casual observation, before we can determine how healthy the wildlife is or would be in the event of a new asphalt plant with extended operating hours.

Wetlands are already an endangered and key resource; they serve as nurseries for the base of the food chain and filter dangerous chemicals from our water. Dutra is also an important resource for Petaluma, but there must be another location for the new plant that is not so important for the 100-plus species of birds that live at Shollenberger Park, the 150,000 people who visit there, and my family. Shollenberger Park is part of a wetland ecosystem that is the second largest in the western United States. Wouldn’t you rather advertise that to visitors crossing the Sonoma County line than have the smokestacks speak for us?

Audrey Fry, Petaluma