Dutra opponents still fighting asphalt project

Next to the parking lot alongside Petaluma’s Shollenberger Park sits several office buildings with breathtaking views of the protected marshland. Companies like Camelbak, whose corporate headquarters is located next to the park, encourages its employees to take lunches and breaks walking around the area, which plays host to hundreds of local bird species.

But Friends of Shollenberger, a community association concerned with the upkeep and continued protection of the wetland, believe a new asphalt factory constructed across the Petaluma River, 150 feet away from Shollenberger, would jeopardize the health of the many employees and joggers running through the city’s most visited park. The group has kept up its opposition despite losing several legal challenges.

Meanwhile, the Dutra Group has received discretionary permit approval from the county, and the company plans to break ground on the asphalt plant this summer.

Covering a total of 505 acres accessible to the public, Shollenberger Park is popular with joggers and wildlife enthusiasts.

“We look at the park as the gateway to Petaluma. The gateway to the county,” said Joan Cooper, spokesperson for Friends of Shollenberger. “When we have families driving in from the East Bay, we want to welcome them with this breathtaking park, not a large asphalt factory.”

The project in question is the proposed permanent location for the Dutra Group’s new asphalt facility. The Dutra Group provides dredging, marine construction and materials production across the United States. Prior to this location, Dutra had a temporary facility farther down the river. In 2005, Dutra’s asphalt facility in a rock quarry near Petaluma Boulevard South closed permanently to make way for a housing development on that property.

The land in question lies across the Petaluma river, right next to Shamrock Materials. Previously, the land had historical value and was known as Haystack Landing. The hill had a Victorian-era farmhouse, believed to be haunted by locals, which burned down in September 2004. Firefighters and officials reported arson as the reason the vacant house caught on fire.

“On the park’s side of the river, there’s this little pier where third graders could watch the egret enclosure, which was a stand of eucalyptus trees on the opposite side,” Cooper said. “Now it’s just a bunch of reeds that hide piping from PG&E. Dutra wanted to build the factory right there, but the land is currently allocated as an easement, so they had to go closer to Haystack Landing.”

Friends of Shollenberger initially fought Dutra’s application to build a factory on the grounds that the land Dutra wanted to use wasn’t zoned for industrial use. Because the land was just outside Petaluma city limits, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors voted to allow Dutra to change the zoning of the land and approved the construction of the plant in October 2010 with a 3-2 vote, despite vehement protests from the City of Petaluma.

Former Petaluma City Councilman David Keller said Petaluma wasn’t the only city to voice concerns.

“We had letters written from the city councils of Santa Rosa, Cotati, Rohnert Park and Sonoma supporting our opposition to that plant,” he said. “I think the biggest problem with the vote is the imbalance of representation in the council. Petaluma had one member on the council. Santa Rosa had four. I don’t think they cared about the proximity and impact of that factory because it wasn’t in their own backyard.”

Sonoma County’s Permits and Records Management Department director Tennis Wick said that Dutra has discretionary permit approval and environmental clearance but still needs grading and building permits.

The Dutra Group did not return a call seeking comment, but the company has previously said it will break ground on the asphalt plant this summer.

Previously, Shamrock Materials offered to cooperate with Dutra in a shared use of Shamrock’s barge dock, but Shamrock has since withdrawn that compliance. Without a dock, Dutra cannot operate its own barge, as using Shamrock’s dock would obstruct the traffic of the Petaluma River.

“The big question on my mind is, ‘why do we even need an asphalt plant?,’” Keller said. “Caltrans and PG&E haven’t complained about asphalt prices and delivery while they work on the freeway over there. Dutra promises cheaper, more readily available asphalt, but I think they just want their cut in this highly competitive market.”

Both Keller and Cooper added the factory’s waste includes hazardous and poisonous emissions.

“We research an emission called blue smoke,” Cooper said. “It’s a transparent vapor emitted from hot asphalt when they’re in the trucks. It’s a hydrocarbon and carcinogen directly related to increased cancer rates and respiratory sickness. The trucks are supposed to be covered with tarps, which reduces emissions, but with supervision relying on automated software, how can we be sure they stay covered?”

Increased traffic from diesel trucks would also increase diesel emissions to the area, and with prevailing winds blowing southeast, Cooper said she is concerned the fumes would travel right into the heart of the wetland.

(Contact William Rohrs at william.rohrs@arguscouri er.com.)