June 19, I attended the public information session for the rezoning of the Schnitzer Steel property on top of the Cassidy Aquifer. As it stands, they are operating under legal non-conforming status and wish to rezone to industrial.
I have absolutely no problem with Schnitzer. They appear to be good corporate citizens. They participate in the community. They provide a fantastic essential service.
It is the location I have a problem with. It is the fact that they truck their products through the already-zoned industrial area of Duke Point to reach the barge that will take their wares off-island. It is the fact that the zoning will stay with the property, even when Schnitzer is long dead and gone.
I have no vested interest in this story. I live in Saltair which may as well be a million miles away as far as this story goes. I have municipal water delivered to my house.
But, as I sat in this meeting, I realized the idiocy of this debate. We are talking about allowing an industrial practice to continue and be legitimized on top of peoples’ drinking water.
In my mind, if ever the precautionary principle were to be applied, this is it.
Tami Edwards,
Saltair