Save Shollenberger Park

Hands Around Shollenberger

2012-02-05T21:17:00.000-08:00

Appeal Filed: City of Petaluma et al. v. County of Sonoma et al.

2012-02-04T14:51:00.000-08:00

Appeal Filed: City of Petaluma et al. v. County of Sonoma et al.

For Immediate Release, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012

Subject: City of Petaluma et al. v. County of Sonoma et al., Case No. SCV

248948

The Community groups, individuals and City of Petaluma have today filed

our appeal of the Superior Court decision, which had denied all claims in

our lawsuit against the County's approval of the Dutra Asphalt Plant

project.

We are looking forward to our claims being heard at the California Court

of Appeals, in San Francisco.

Given Dutra's statements that they are pursuing the start up of their

factory following the court's decision, we will continue to strongly oppose

this wrongly-made decision and project approvals at all levels. This will

be done in court, as well as at the various local, state and federal

agencies whose approvals are necessary prior to Dutra's construction and

grading permits and actions.

We will provide more details on the claims being appealed in the near

future, following discussions among the plaintiffs in the case.

David Keller, Petaluma River Council

Joan Cooper, Friends of Shollenberger Park

Council Joins Community To Appeal Dutra Approval

2012-01-24T09:41:00.000-08:00

Council Joins Community To Appeal Dutra Approval

The Petaluma City Council voted tonight after aClosed Session meeting, to appeal JudgeChouteau’s Dec. 23, 2011 decision (upholding Sonoma County’s approval of theDutra asphalt factory at Haystack Landing. ) The Superior Court decisionwill be challenged in Appellate Courtin San Francisco by the City of Petaluma, holding together the original coalition of plaintiffs, whichincludes Friends of Shollenberger Park, Moms for Clean Air, The Madrone AudubonSociety, Petaluma Tomorrow, The Petaluma River Council and several individuals. The vote was 6 in favor of appeal, andone, Council Member Albertson, against.

The Petaluma Council heard citizens speak during Public Comment at 5:30PM tonight at City Hall. People from all walks of life in Petaluma fromDowntown Business Association Executive Director, MarieMcCusker  toDavid Keller, Petaluma River Council, to former Mayor Pam Torliatt made a forceful case for the economic basis of funding an appeal citing tourism and Shollenberger Park as crucialeconomic drivers for Petaluma’s future.

The citizen comment period culminated with SheriChlebowski , Moms for Clean Air and Joan Cooper, Friends of Shollenberger Park spokespersonmaking the City Council the offer of $10,000 to help defray the City’s legal costs of the appeal. With the estimate from the CityAttorney of a maximum of $18,500, the community has generously ponied up morethan 50 % of the City’s projected legal expenses.

Mayor Glass commented that the strong response ofthe citizenry urging the Council to appeal figured into his vote toappeal. He noted that the Dutraissue had catapulted many into political action who had never participated inthe process before. The anti Dutra movement is a reflection of the strong commitment of the people of Petaluma to preserve and protect ShollenbergerPark and the quality of life as we know it in Petaluma.

Thank you to one and all for signing thepetition, writing to the council, donating money and taking the time to come tothe council meeting and speak, as well as talking to friends and neighbors.This shows how a community can pull together and make a difference.

Nowon to the appeal – more fundraising for our own legal expenses will ensue – ANDthat means more parties! Events! And community fun.

Nextevent: HANDS AROUND SHOLLENBERGER

FEB12 A VALENTINE FOR OUR PARK

STAND UP FOR SHOLLENBERGER RALLY HUGE !

2012-01-16T23:26:00.000-08:00

400 hundred people and dogs gathered at Shollenberger Park to protest the approval of the Dutra Asphalt factory across the river from its paths. Oldsters, kids, dogs on leashes, babies in strollers, bikers, Occupiers all heeded the call to STAND UP FOR OUR PARK given by Friends of Shollenberger, Moms for Clean Air, and Occupy Petaluma.

It was a real Petaluma Grass Roots Day – the kind of experience that reminds you why we all love Petaluma and the Park so much and want to live here in peace and good health.

Click here for video

Bug Deakin, Heritage Salvage motored gallantly by in his Cutter, then stopped to read aloud his wonderful poem, “Ode to Dutra!” Poetry to tell Dutra to go way and leave our birds alone!

Hundreds waved from the Viewing Platform shouting DUCKS NOT TRUCKS and SAVE OUR PARK and NO DUTRA NO DUTRA.

The crowd then walked in solidarity together to the dredge spoil pond and stood before the expansive vista of the Measure D Voter Mandate protected wetlands.

“Look south,” Bill Kortum, our much loved environmental leader and former Supervisor, once said to me and then Sup. Candidate Mike Maguire. “What do you see?” “Nothing but wetlands and sky,” we replied. “That’s because the voters wanted it that way .” Open and free of industrial blight and development.

Yes, nothing but birds and blue sky and a view of a cleaner future for our children and their children. Worth appealing and preserving. That’s something.

Photographer Scott Hess captured the inspiring moment of young and old standing together united to save the park. Videographers Sebastian Nau, Kaye Chandler, Beau Bouverat and others filmed the crowd.

Friends of Shollenberger wants to thank Lorna Johnson and Eve O’Rourke for gathering the community together by envisioning this Rally and bringing us all together and giving us this wonderful day.

Also many thanks to OCCUPY Petaluma who kicked off our rally on Saturday with a wonderful street side demonstration at Washington and Petaluma Blvd.

Our message to the City Council:

“Petaluma City Council must join the appeal. STAY THE COURSE.”

Write your City Council this week – AGAIN.

Drop Everything and Come to the City Council Meeting:
City Hall, English St. Petaluma, CA
JAN 23 7 PM MON EVE
Hear their decision face to face.
STAND UP AND BE COUNTED ONCE AGAIN

We will appeal and we will prevail

2012-01-11T11:32:00.000-08:00

Untitled Document

Join Us! Sunday, January 15 3:30p to 4:30p At Shollenberger Park!

Sunday promises to be a beautiful warm sunny day! Perfect for being outdoors!

Come join your friends and neighbors on a walk around Shollenberger Park on Sunday, January 15 from 3:30 to 4:30 to show your support for the park and the appeal.

Scott Hess will be there to take a HUGE group photo of us at 4:00.

The photo will be taken at the viewing platform - which is right across from where Dutra is planning to built its noxious asphalt plant.

Stand up for your wetlands and let everyone know you think the sanctity of our Shollenberger Park wetlands and the quality of life in Petaluma are worth saving.

Everyone - parents, kids, elders, runners, cyclists, birders, rowers, Occupiers, teachers, students: walk, run, dance, ride your bike, or paddle your kayak - and bring a friend or two! Bring the whole family! See you there!

Please share this email with your friends!

Thank you!!

Friends of Shollenberger Park

SAVE SHOLLENBERGER JOIN THE APPEAL!

2012-01-03T23:24:00.000-08:00

Please sign our Petition and send a message to the Petaluma City Council to do what's right, stay the course, join the community coalition of non-profits and individuals as plaintiffs in this appeal.

Click Here to download the full text of Judge Chouteau's decision.

DONTRA! No Asphalt Plant Next to Our Park!

2012-01-03T09:23:00.000-08:00

Untitled Document

DONTRA!
NO Asphalt Factory Next To Our Park!
ROUND TWO!

"Stay The Course"
"It Takes A Community" to protect itself. Judge Chouteau's flawed decision needs to be challenged in a higher court. That's why our justice system has an appellate court.

Preserving wetlands for the good of the planet and all of us living beings leads to a healthy future.

Allowing an industrial factory on the banks of the river is going backwards to the bad old times.

Petaluma doesn't want this factory at its Gateway, but Dutra does. Who wins, who loses? It goes against the 2020 County General Plan guiding principle: The County should cooperate with cities when planning for parcels in their sphere of influence, just outside the city limits.

KNOWN IMPACTS OF THE DUTRA ASPHALT FACTORY:
Judge Chouteau's legal ruling doesn't change the DUTRA Asphalt factory. It's still the same noxious factory.

A FUTURE DUTRA FACTORY:
Still Smells like hot asphalt
Still Unhealthy and Toxic Operation
Excessive NOX levels that lead to asthma allowed
2.5 particulate matter causes asthma & cancer - not evaluated
Still Creates traffic jams for commuters using 101
Still Impacts Shollenberger's wildlife
egrets and herons
Still impacts nearby residences and businesses:
noise, dust, smells, and lights
Still lowers housing values
Still an Eyesore at the Gateway to Petaluma:
Still Hurts local restaurant, shopping and tourism businesses

WHY WE CAN WIN AN APPEAL AT A HIGHER COURT:

Legal errors in Judge Chouteau's ruling make it possible to overturn it on appeal for reconsideration by a panel of three judges in a San Francisco higher court. Getting the case out of Sonoma County may help our case.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Are you with us?
Will you stay the course to protect our park and community?

Call, write, and e-mail your Petaluma City Council Members and Mayor:

1. Commend them for standing together to defend the taxpayers' $4 million investment in Shollenberger Park and the Petaluma Wetlands
http://cityofpetaluma.net/cclerk/council.html

2. Subject line for e-mails and letters: "Stay The Course"
3. Ask them to join the legal appeal to this flawed decision

daveglass@comcast.net
teresa4petaluma@comcast.net
tiff@tiffanyrenee.com
councilman.albertson@gmail.com
councilmemberkearney@me.com
mthealy@sbcglobal.net
mike4pet@aol.com

Chris Albertson
councilman.albertson@gmail.com
POB 61, 94953 707.778.4525 12/14
Teresa Barrett
teresa4petaluma@comcast.net
POB 901, 94953 707.953.0846 12/14
David Glass Mayor
daveglass@comcast.net
POB 61, 94953 707.778.4345 12/14
Mike Harris
mike4pet@aol.com
POB 751361, 94975 707.773.3196 12/14
Mike Healy Vice Mayor mthealy@sbcglobal.net
304 Kentucky Street, 94952 707.762.8768 12/12
Gabe Kearney
councilmemberkearney@me.com
POB 61, 94953 707.238.2199 12/12
Tiffany Renée
tiff@tiffanyrenee.com
POB 750536, 94975-036 707.776.6214 12/12

Judge Chouteau Buys County's Arguments

2011-12-28T11:54:00.000-08:00

Chouteau Buys County's Arguments

PRESS RELEASE
December 28, 2011

Judge Chouteau Buys County's Arguments
Dutra Asphalt Factory Approval Upheld by Court

We are very disappointed by Judge Chouteau's failure to find in favor of our
community coalition's legal challenge to protect Shollenberger Park, the
Petaluma River and our community's health and economy. Judge Chouteau has
rejected our plea to preserve the gateway to Sonoma County from blight and
protect the people of Petaluma from Dutra's industrial pollution.

Judge Chouteau has dismissed all of our claims, and seems to have adopted
county counsel's and Dutra's attorney's arguments without question.

1) Judge Chouteau has mistakenly written off Shollenberger Park and the
upper Petaluma River as an industrial blighted area that merits no further
protections or care. This is – contrary to its status as the most popular
park in Petaluma and a recognized National Geographic destination.

2) He chose to overlook the increased health risks caused by toxic air
pollution from many thousands of Dutra's diesel trucks, tugs and asphalt
manufacturing. He has rejected the legally required standards for
measuring toxic emissions from the project at its proposed location. He
asserted that CEQA cannot be used to address impacts to workers' health at
the plant.

3) Despite Shamrock Materials sworn unwillingness to allow their dock to
receive Dutra's aggregate deliveries, Judge Chouteau accepted the County's
argument that the project could be approved as "river dependent".

4. He failed to address what would happen after the first three years with
Dutra's truck-only deliveries of aggregate, as permitted by the County, if
no barge delivery through Shamrock's permitted tonnage capacity was agreed
to or feasible. Would Dutra be shut down without river deliveries? Would
they just continue with thousands of truck trips? He refused to tell us how
that should or would work.

5. Judge Chouteau refused to respect the integrity of the county-wide
voters' 1998 approval of Measure D, establishing the Petaluma/Novato
Community Separator. This voter-approved mandate, like Urban Growth
Boundaries for all our cities, protects the entrance to Sonoma County, from
the county line to Petaluma's Urban Service Boundary, from intensified
development along the 101 corridor. The County, and now this judge, have
mistakenly left Dutra's parcels unprotected against industrial development
with an asphalt factory.

The plaintiffs' coalition of non-profits, individuals, and the City of
Petaluma will now consider the next steps, including possibly appealing
Judge Chouteau's ruling. Our attorneys at Lozeau/Drury feel we have many
legal issues that could find merit at a higher court. So far, we believe
that this judge's decision should be overturned.

The community's efforts to save Shollenberger Park, our River, Petaluma's
health and economic vitality are not over yet. Our city, community and
extended family have supported these battles for several years, and will
not give up now.

Your donations to fund the appeal are requested from all of you who love
Shollenberger Park, value clean air, and what makes Petaluma attractive and
strong. We are offended by Dutra's two 62 ft. asphalt storage towers and
thousands of trucks wafting trails of toxic and stinking asphalt smoke as
a landmark marking the Gateway to our fair city and county.

We will never give up fighting to preserve and protect Shollenberger Park.
Thank you!

Richard Drury, Lozeau/Drury LLP, (510) 836-4202
Joan Cooper, Friends of Shollenberger, (415) 516-3673
David Keller, Petaluma River Council, (707) 763-9336

HELP SAVE SHOLLENBERGER PARK

2011-12-24T10:39:00.000-08:00

Untitled Document

HELP SAVE SHOLLENBERGER PARK
$1500 MATCHING GRANT
PLEDGED TO FRIENDS OF SHOLLENBERGER
Double your donation!
Say NO to Dutra!
A generous (anonymous) community donor has thrown down this challenge:
“Donate by Dec. 31st and your donations will be matched
dollar for dollar (Up to $1500)
If you love Shollenberger Park and The Petaluma Wetlands and all the critters,
now is the time to give.
Funds are necessary to pay our legal expenses:
On Dec. 9, 2011, Judge Chouteau will hear oral arguments in Sonoma Superior Court re: the legal challenge of our community coalition to the Dutra Asphalt Factory.
The judge’s decision will arrive within three weeks – and most likely there will be an appeal – whichever side prevails.
So our fundraising continues to be necessary. We will stay the course, stand firm against degrading Shollenberger Park, and protect the health and quality of life in Petaluma.
To preserve Petaluma’s open space – donate today!
Go to saveshollenberger.com and click DONATE – it’s fully tax-deductible.
To donate by check, mail checks to:
Greg Reisinger, Treasurer FOS, 521 Howard Street, Petaluma, CA 94952
Checks can be made out to O.W.L. Foundation, please note on memo line for Friends of Shollenberger
Friends of Shollenberger

OUR DAY IN COURT

2011-12-11T14:33:00.000-08:00

Joan Cooper, Edward Grutzmacher (attorney for the City of Petaluma,

Richard Drury (lead attorney representing the non-profits and individual

plaintiffs,) David Keller, Sheri Chlebowski, Ilka de Gast, and Heidi Rhymes

outside of Courtroom 17 on Dec. 9, 2011

Today at Sonoma Superior Court, Judge Rene Chouteau heard oral arguments for
two and one-half hours on the Dutra lawsuit.

Judge Chouteau asked insightful questions to clarify the arguments of both
sides of the suit - the plaintiffs (community non -profits, individuals and
The City of Petaluma) and the defense (The County of Sonoma, Dutra
Materials, and Shamrock Materials.)

Our attorney Richard Drury presented compelling arguments regarding the
alleged California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) violations, starting
with the failure to provide a clear description of the project for the
public’s review. Dutra’s attorney maintained that the project was 99% the
same as the original project described six years ago and that the piecemeal
description contained in subsequent two revisions and numerous associated
documents was sufficient to meet CEQA’s requirement for a clear description.

Community members filled the seats of courttoom 17 with Mayor Dave Glass,
and Council members Barrett, Healy, and Rene present, as well as former
Mayor Pam Torliatt and former Council member David Keller.

Judge Chouteau has up to 90 days to rule on the legal issues. The session
demonstrated how much is at stake for both sides of this dispute. Kudos go
to our legal team for a clear and concise presentation.

HELP SAVE SHOLLENBERGER PARK

2011-12-08T15:25:00.001-08:00

Untitled Document

$1500 MATCHING GRANT
PLEDGED TO FRIENDS OF SHOLLENBERGER

Double your donation!
Say NO to Dutra!

A generous (anonymous) community donor has thrown down this challenge:
“Donate by Dec. 31st and your donations will be matched
dollar for dollar (Up to $1500)

If you love Shollenberger Park and The Petaluma Wetlands and all the critters,
now is the time to give.

Funds are necessary to pay our legal expenses:
On Dec. 9, 2011, Judge Chouteau will hear oral arguments in Sonoma Superior Court re: the legal challenge of our community coalition to the Dutra Asphalt Factory.
The judge’s decision will arrive within three weeks – and most likely there will be an appeal – whichever side prevails.

So our fundraising continues to be necessary. We will stay the course, stand firm against degrading Shollenberger Park, and protect the health and quality of life in Petaluma.

To preserve Petaluma’s open space – donate today!
Go to saveshollenberger.com and click DONATE – it’s fully tax-deductible.

To donate by check, mail checks to:
Greg Reisinger, Treasurer FOS, 521 Howard Street, Petaluma, CA 94952
Checks can be made out to O.W.L. Foundation, please note on memo line for Friends of Shollenberger

Friends of Shollenberger

ADOPT A WILD ONE!

2011-12-01T23:52:00.000-08:00

PRESERVE and PROTECT

SHOLLENBERGER PARK

Your favorite bird lover, grandchild, niece or nephew, daughter or son, teacher or nature lover will appreciate knowing your gift helped save the salt water marsh inhabitants of the Petaluma Wetlands. They'll receive a beautiful color photo (8 x 10) of the animal of your choice, a certificate of adoption, and a BIG THANK YOU from all of the animals who live at Shollenberger Park.

For each animal adopted, YOU WILL RECEIVE:

A beautiful 8 x 10 color photograph of the animal
An official certificate of adoption
A BIG THANK YOU from all of the animals who live at Shollenberger Park!

Order by Dec. 20, 2011 for local Christmas Delivery

	$20	River Otter
	$20	Western Pond Turtle
	$20	Red-shouldered Hawk
	$20	Red-tailed Hawk
	$20	White-tailed Kite
	$20	Barn Owl
	$20	American White Pelican
	$20	Great Egret
	$20	Great Blue Heron
	$20	Ruddy Duck
	$20	Cinnamon Teal pair
	$20	American Kestrel (a falcon)

Also Available: 50 Birds of Shollenberger
Our full color hard-covered book ( 8" x 8") ofphotos taken by Senior Docent Bob Dyer at Shollenberger Park and thePetaluma Wetlands. A great gift for all ages, makes it easier to identifythe wildlife you meet when walking the paths at Shollenberger. Signed by theartist. $40 + $4 Shipping

Sample Photos from 50 Birds of Shollenberger

Green Heron

Eurasian (Common) Teal

American Kestrel

American White Pelican

Party for the Park

2011-11-30T12:17:00.000-08:00

Untitled Document

Nov. 30, 2011

Dear Friends of Shollenberger,

Party for the Park! DEC. 2 FRI night at The Mail Depot – COME JOIN US!

DECEMBER IS DECISION MONTH for Shollenberger Park :

Come to the OPEN HOUSE THIS FRIDAY!
Let’s raise energy, money, and awareness.

Let’s gather together in anticipation of the judicial decision.
on the Dutra Asphalt Factory, in Sonoma Superior Court. (Dec. 9th.)

Let’s a party for the park!

OPEN HOUSE DEC. 2
THIS FRIDAY NITE
COMMUNITY GATHERING at The Mail Depot
7 PM on into the evening

Music by Araan Harris & Friends
Snacks & Libations by Lagunitas

Murrray Rockowitz Photo Exhibit
http://rockowitz.com/

Suggested donation $15 All ages

On Sale for Holiday Gifts:
“50 Shollenberger Birds” books by Bob Dyer
“Adopt an Animal” bird photos & Certificates
Free gift-wrap.

Shollenberger Park and the Petaluma Wetlands need your support now more than ever.

2011-11-17T20:35:00.001-08:00

We ask you to help save Shollenberger Park by including us in your annual giving plans.

As you know, litigation to save the park from the Dutra Asphalt factory hazards began in January 2011. On December 9th, Judge Chouteau will hear oral arguments in Sonoma Superior Court, Santa Rosa. You, the public, can attend. We plan to be victorious, but understand that Dutra will most likely file an appeal, and the litigation may continue throughout 2012.

Dutra hopes they can outspend and outlast us. But we won’t let them win and degrade our park, health, economy and community. Not after five years of community resistance.

Our attorneys have worked very efficiently, yet the legal process is expensive. We need your financial help now to fund our legal challenge.

Without funds to continue the fight, the Dutra six-story asphalt towers will become the gateway to our community in 2012. Your donation is crucial to the legal defense of our wetlands and to keep our community informed.

Our community has been generous in the past. Let's see this through. We look forward to celebrating our victory together.

Your donation is fully tax deductible under our sponsorship by O.W.L. Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit. And, if you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 415-516-3673.

Thank you for your past support and for helping us secure Shollenberger Park.

Sincerely,

Joan Cooper, David Keller & Greg Reisinger

To donate online, click here to make a donation via O.W.L

To donate by check, mail checks to:
Greg Reisinger, Treasurer FOS, 521 Howard Street, Petaluma, CA 94952
Checks can be made out to O.W.L. Foundation, please note on memo linefor Friends of Shollenberger

Click here to view or download the 11/8/2011 Petitioner's Reply

Friends of Shollenberger

2011-10-08T11:24:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends of Shollenberger,

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
December 9, 2011 is Decision Day - Judge Chouteau will hear our legal
challenge in Sonoma Superior Court, and issue his findings.
Be there to support our case and bear witness to the proceedings.

DONATE TODAY!
Protecting our park and wetlands costs money: legal fees need your support.
Please donate if you can, on-line (saveshollenberger.com)

Send Donations by check to:

Friends of Shollenberger Park
PO Box 2114
Petaluma, CA 94953

Plan to include us in your end of year giving
(checks can be made out to the O.W.L. Foundation, memo: Friends of
Shollenberger, and are fully tax-deductible.)

It's for the kids - and for the birds - and for the health of Petaluma!

Joan Cooper
Friends of Shollenberger

What's happening Update

2011-10-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

SAVE SHOLLENBERGER UPDATE:
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
Saveshollenberger.com
DEC. 14, 2010:
SONOMA COUNTY SUPERVISORS APPROVE DUTRA ASPHALT FACTORY
(3-2 VOTE) FAIL TO FOLLOW PROCEDURE FOR RE-ZONING, CERTIFICATION OF EIR.
THEY DISALLOW PUBLIC COMMENT AT THE HEARING

JAN. 14, 2011
RICHARD DRURY, DRURY AND LOZEAU, FILES 60 PAGE LEGAL CHALLENGE, ON BEHALF OF THE PLAINTIFFS (CITY OF PETALUMA, MADRONE AUDUBON SOCIETY, PETALUMA RIVER COUNCIL, FRIENDS OF SHOLLENBERGER, MOMS FOR CLEAN AIR, PETALUMA TOMORROW AND SEVERAL INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS

JUNE 23 2011
JUDGE RENE CHOUTEAU, SONOMA SUPERIOR COURT, APPOINTED TO HEAR OUR CASE, RULES AGAINST SHAMROCK MATERIALS, INC AND CORTO MENO SAND & GRAVEL’S REQUEST TO BE REMOVED AS A “PARTY OF INTEREST”

SEPT. 22, 2011
COALITION OF PLAINTIFFS AND THE CITY OF PETALUMA (a co-plaintiff) FILE BRIEFS ADDRESSING GENERAL PLAN ISSUES AND MEASURE D (SCENIC VIEW CORRIDOR PROTECTION)

OCT. 21, 2011
DUTRA, SHAMROCK, COUNTRY OF SONOMA WILL FILE OPPOSITION BRIEFS

NOV. 8, 2011
RICHARD DRURY, ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFFS (OUR COMMUNITY COALITION) WILL FILE REPLY BRIEF

DEC. 9, 2011 2:20 PM (PUBLIC CAN ATTEND)
HEARING ON THE WRIT WILL BE BEFORE JUDGE CHOUTEAU IN SONOMA SUPERIOR COURT Santa Rosa, CA EITHER PARTY CAN APPEAL THE DECISION.

FOR UPDATES:
JOIN OUR FACEBOOK COMMUNITY PAGE: http://www.facebook.com/shollenbergerpark

River advocate David Yearsley dies

2011-09-09T11:24:00.000-07:00

photo Scott Hess
The beauty and rich history of the Petaluma River is what David Yearsley fell in love with when he first moved to town in the mid-1990s. That love for the Petaluma River was something he dedicated his life to sharing with others.

From Petaluma 360

David Yearsley, 1946-2011
Mr. Yearsley, the former Petaluma Riverkeeper, died after a battle with cancer on Sept. 5, 2011. He was 65.

“The Petaluma River just lost its best friend,” said J.T. Wick, a member of the board of directors of Friends of the Petaluma River.

Mr. Yearsley grew up in Wisconsin, but spent some of his formative years in the Delaware River estuary near Odessa where his grandfather owned a farm with 200 to 300 acres of marsh.

“We got to explore it as boys. Swim in the creeks, fish,” said Yearsley in a 2004 interview with the Argus-Courier. “The tides were very similar to the Petaluma River. They rose and fell five to six feet.”

After serving four years in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War working on fuel pipelines and storage facilities, Yearsley moved to San Francisco in 1968 to attend college.

He earned a university degree in fine arts. He became a woodworker, married, had two children and moved to Richmond. Even there he was able to indulge his love of the outdoors hunting and fishing on Wild Cat Creek. He divorced in 1989.

While he was still a student at San Francisco State in the 1970s, Yearsley lived in a little cabin in Larkspur on the Corte Madera Creek. Housing was cheap and the house was on stilts over a tidal marsh.

A friend came to visit him and mentioned she owned a similar cabin in the Petaluma marsh. Yearsley liked it so much he bought into it, then bought out her share in the mid-1980s.

In 1994 he met his present wife, Elizabeth Howland, and moved to Petaluma.
It was Howland’s friend, David Keller, who suggested to Mr. Yearsley that the Petaluma River needed a river keeper. He introduced Mr. Yearsley to the San Francisco Baykeeper, who appreciated his passion for the watershed and helped him set up the Petaluma Riverkeeper program in 1998. He served as Riverkeeper until 2005.

“I was very proud to be Riverkeeper,” Mr. Yearsley said. “Being a keeper was a big thing for me.”

In conjunction with his Riverkeeper work, he was founding chairman of the Petaluma Wetlands Alliance from 2001 to 2003; which successfully promoted constructed wetlands as part of Petaluma’s new wastewater treatment and recycling facility.

In 2004 to 2005, he led Friends of Tolay’s successful grassroots campaign for the acquisition of Tolay Lake Regional Park, preserving a pristine 1,800-acre valley adjacent to Petaluma River.

He also served on the Petaluma Chamber of Commerce River Committee.

In 2006, Mr. Yearsley founded the Friends of the Petaluma River to promote appreciation and stewardship and of the River and its tidal wetlands.

“He had this deep belief that everyone could connect to nature whatever their age or background or politics and that we all deep within us,” said Howland. “We can do that in a fun way and that’s why ‘celebrate’ is part of the Friends of the Petaluma River mantra. It’s about inspiring people to protect and conserve our natural resources. That’s the way he wanted to do it.”

In 2009, he launched an effort to convert an old livery stable that had been moved from First and D streets to McNear Peninsula to the Petaluma River Heritage Center five years earlier. He helped organize several events there, including a River Heritage Fair, Tom Sawyer Days and the Rivertown Revival.

In a 2009 interview with the Argus-Courier, he said he envisioned the center as a place for “visiting small boaters and motorized craft (to) have space for overnight camping and be able to have youth events here. He added, “One of our primary goals is to create a place where children and people of all ages, can have free, unstructured time to explore nature.”
Mr. Yearsley was captain for the Friends of the Petaluma River’s Eco-Cruises, a program that started in 2010 and gave interested local residents the opportunity to enjoy a narrated cruise on the river aboard a 27-foot triple pontoon barge.

“He brought constant love and attention to our river and our community for many transformative years,” said local photographer Scott Hess, a friend who had taken many photos of Mr. Yearsley and the Petaluma River over the years.

Over the last several years, he fought a major expansion of the Redwood Landfill, north of Novato, surrounded on one side by San Antonio Creek and the other side by the Petaluma River. He called it an environmental disaster waiting to happen, saying it could collapse and leak pollution into San Antonio Creek, in turn contaminating the Petaluma River and San Francisco Bay.

When not on the river, Mr. Yearsley worked as a cabinet maker and furniture designer, and a general contractor. He did remodels of Victorians. Part of his early work was historical buildings in San Francisco and Marin. In 1983, he started his own business, DMY Woodcraft.

Howland added that he had a good sense of humor, loved music, singing and dancing. In fact, the couple met at a cajun dance.

“David was one of the truest people I’ve ever known,” said Howland. “He was true to himself, true to those he loved and true to his vision for the greater good for serving the community. He was a wonderful father and grandfather.”

To honor Mr. Yearsley’s passing, friends laid down a sacred ceremonial fire Monday at the River Heritage Center in his honor and planned to keep it burning for four days. Peter Bergen, a traditional fire tender, is helping community members to share together their grief, stories, laughter, music and hearts over four days.
“While we are not organizing a time for everyone to assemble en masse, we would like to encourage anyone who would like to, to coordinate attendance with friends and loved ones,” said friend Jim Hage. “Those able and desiring to be fire tenders will have an opportunity to learn from the initiated. You may also bring something representative of David’s tremendous spirit to offer to the fire. In honor of David’s love of the outdoors and camping, sleeping bags and guitars are encouraged as some of our friends will be sleeping out.”

Mr. Yearsley is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Howland; children, Liam Nelson, Kate Glass, Brendan Brooks and Marcelle Brooks-Yearsley; and four grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held in the fall. Details will be announced at a later date.

Rose Foundation Grant Awarded to Friends of Shollenberger Park

2011-07-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

A $4000 grant has been awarded to Friends of Shollenberger Park in the foundation's Summer 2011 funding cycle of the Northern California Environmental Grassroots Fund.

The grant supports our community-based effort to litigate and stop the Dutra asphalt factory and protect our park, wetlands, wildlife and citizens. The Dutra asphalt factory was approved in December 2010 by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.

This is the second grant awarded from the Rose Foundation to support our grassroots community effort. This expression of support will strengthen our ability to continue and to fundraise for extraordinary legal expenses the community will bear to protect our community and our environment.

Friends of Shollenberger was one of 18 statewide grant recipients announced on June 11, 2011.

We thank the Rose Foundation for their continued support and expression of confidence in the direction and intentions of Friends of Shollenberger Park.

A Community Coming Together - Thank you all!

2011-06-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

Breaking News!

2011-06-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

Breaking news!

June 23, 2011

Today, Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Rene Chouteau rejected a
request from Shamrock Materials, Inc., and Corte Meno Sand & Gravel,
LLC to be released from a lawsuit challenging the a new asphalt plant,
proposed to be constructed by the Dutra Group, immediately across from
Petaluma’s Shollenberger Park, a renowned bird sanctuary.

Read what the Patch has to say!

Shamrock Materials, Inc.,

Judge Denies Shamrock requests for release from Dutra Asphalt Plant lawsuit

2011-06-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

PRESS RELEASE

Judge Denies Shamrock requests for release from Dutra Asphalt Plant lawsuit.

June 23, 2011

From: David Keller, Petaluma River Council, 1327 I St., Petaluma CA 94952. (707) 763-9336

For additional information, contact: Richard Drury, Lozeau | Drury LLP, 410 12th Street, Suite 250, Oakland, CA 94607, (510) 836-4200

Today, Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Rene Chouteau rejected a request from Shamrock Materials, Inc., and Corte Meno Sand & Gravel, LLC to be released from a lawsuit challenging the a new asphalt plant, proposed to be constructed by the Dutra Group, immediately across from Petaluma’s Shollenberger Park, a renowned bird sanctuary.

Shamrock has argued that they had nothing to do with Dutra’s project. However, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including the City of Petaluma, Petaluma River Council, Madrone Audubon Society, Friends of Shollenberger Park, Moms for Clean Air, Petaluma Tomorrow, and others, pointed out that the County Board of Supervisors required Dutra to import its aggregate needed to produce asphalt by barge, using Shamrock’s adjacent dock, and to transport the aggregate from Shamrock to Dutra by way of a conveyor belt to be built through wetlands constructed on Shamrock’s land to mitigate Shamrock’s wetlands impacts. This made Shamrock’s participation in the case critical, since the County had required a large portion of the Dutra project to be built on Shamrock’s property (which is owned in part by Corto Meno).

Today Judge Chouteau agreed with the plaintiffs, holding that Shamrock is a proper party in the case and that Shamrock’s absence may interfere with the court’s ability to award complete relief in the action.

Petaluma River Council Director David Keller said, “It’s really quite simple. Either Shamrock is refusing to be part of the Dutra Project, in which case the Environmental Impact Report prepared for the project is entirely inaccurate and misleading; or else, Shamrock is willing to cooperate with Dutra and allow the project to be built on its wetlands, in which case Shamrock must be a party to the lawsuit. Shamrock can’t have it both ways.”

COME TO THE SHOLLENBERGER SHINDIG

2011-05-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

JUNE 14th 6-9 PM

IT'S A BENEFIT CONCERT & BEER PARTY

for Friends of Shollenberger:

Petaluma. Our legal challenge to stop the Dutra Asphalt Factory costs $$$.

Help raise the money to pay the bills and party at the same time!

WET YOUR WHISTLE FOR THE WETLANDS

“ Lagunitas Bar” open for orders at the Shollenberger Shindig -
% of Proceeds to Friends of Shollenberger”

Let’s Sing & Swing to Save Shollenberger

There will be amazing music by Local Super Group:

FOXES IN THE HEN HOUSE.

THE RIVEREENS with special guest David Grisman

& Three Legged Sister

$20 General Admission Sold Out!

$100 VIP Tickets Still Available at Mail Depot and Lagunitas Sold Out!

Be a VIP and boost the effort to save Shollenberger

Buy an VIP ALL ACCESS PASS @ $100. THE VIP LOUNGE is upstairs at Lagunitas - a groovy rec room & bar with comfy couches and memorabilia. Up here will be artisan beer tasting, locovore snacks, fine wine.

On the VIP stage enjoy the music of:

GABBY LA LA

GUILLERMO GARCIA

The business community is stepping up with delicious snack platters and Silent Auction donations for all to enjoy. We thank our donors for making this event possible.

Thank you to our Underwriters:

Camelbak

RNM Properties

Out West Garage

BIG Thank You to Lagunitas Brewing, Our host!

Shamrock requests release from Dutra Asphalt Plant lawsuit.

2011-04-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

NEWS FLASH!

Shamrock requests release from Dutra Asphalt Plant lawsuit.
April 19, 2011

Shamrock has filed a demurrer in Sonoma County Superior Court, arguing that they are not a real party of interest in the Dutra Petaluma Asphalt Plant case, got no approvals from the county to do anything on their land, and should be dismissed from the case.

They argue that Shamrock and Corto Meno Sand & Gravel in fact never agreed to be a part of Dutra's project, have no agreement to do so, and that any such inclusion in the Dutra project is incorrect.

Shamrock's claim shows that the County's EIR and Dutra Asphalt Plant Project approvals are patently inadequate because Shamrock never agreed to the Dutra Project that the County approved.

The conditions of approval require that Dutra's Asphalt Plant Project must be built on a portion of Shamrock's property which must be conveyed to Dutra's ownership, destroying wetlands required to be created as mitigation for the Shamrock project, and require Shamrock to be Dutra's exclusive supplier of rock and aggregate barged up the Petaluma River.

Dutra's original project design depended on barged deliveries of aggregate to Dutra's own river-frontage site. However, the barge and tug operations and mooring facilities were found to block the river's federally dredged channel, and impair navigational safety. Dutra's river-front barge landing site was also discovered by us to be located directly over two PG&E high-pressure 12" gas lines and PG&E easements, which are not buildable. Dutra had to find another solution to remaining a barge-accessed project and avoid truck-only deliveries. Their proposal, ultimately approved and mandated by Sonoma County's conditions of approval and CEQA conclusions, was to deliver all Dutra's aggregate through the adjacent Shamrock property and barge landing site, and deliver it to Dutra's site via a conveyor belt system that would cross directly through Shamrock's previous wetlands mitigation site.

When the Supervisors asked county staff if there was an agreement between Dutra and Shamrock, they - erroneously - assured the Supervisors and the public that there was, or would be an agreement between Dutra and Shamrock to use Shamrock's facilities as part of the project, including a transfer of property to Dutra for the conveyor belt system and construction, and wetland mitigations for the conveyor belt. Shamrock registered no objections to the Supervisors' final approvals in December 2010.

Either Shamrock isn't a participant in the Dutra Project despite the County's requirements and assurances, or Shamrock will need to have a full environmental review of the alterations to its site, operations, permit and wetlands in order for the Dutra Project to proceed. Either way, the Dutra project should finally come to a complete stop.

For the complete court case details please click here:
Part 1 Case No SCV-248948
Part 2 Case No SCV-248948

To read the article in the Petaluma Patch, please click here

White Swan Rummage Sale April 17!

2011-04-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

Next Sunday April 17, we are hosting a booth located at the Mail Depot. Our goal is to raise more funds to further support our legal battle against Dutra Apshalt Plant. We are looking for sellable donated items and a few volunteers to help staff the booth on Sunday. . Thank you for your continued support.

Regards,

Save Shollenberger Fund Raising Committee

Contact: saveshollenberger@gmail.com

kayec@sonic.net

707-280-0291

FUNDRAISING: OUR MISSION TO SAVE SHOLLENBERGER

2011-03-28T16:00:00.000-07:00

MARGIE HELM - CITIZEN OF THE YEAR RECEPTION (APRIL 3^rd)

WILL RAISE FUNDS FOR FRIENDS OF SHOLLENBERGER

After actively participating in the County's review and approvals process over the past three years, the City of Petaluma, several community organizations including the Petaluma River Council, Friends of Shollenberger Park, Madrone Audubon Society and Petaluma Tomorrow, along with thousands of individual citizens are frustrated and disappointed that the Dutra Asphalt Plant was approved by County Supervisors in a 3-2 vote.

The Plaintiffs (The City of Petaluma, the community organizations listed above, and several individual citizens) have exhausted all other remedies with the County, and are now seeking judicial review of the approvals process and the impacts of the project itself.

See articles in the West County Gazette summarize the lawsuit and its strength.

http://www.sonomacountygazette.com/wcg201102_index.html

http://sonomacountygazette.blogspot.com/2011/02/dutra-asphalt-plant-challenged-in.html

http://sonomacountygazette.blogspot.com/2011/03/friends-of-shollengerber-park.html

Funding the legal battle to save Shollenberger is our next challenge. There are many ways to contribute and enjoy our community’s energy and commitment at the same time.

Mark Your Calendars and Join Together!

#1 Help Raise Funds to Protect Our Park

Honor Margie Helms Petaluma Citizen of the Year

Reception at Zocalos Restaurant

APRIL 3^rd SUNDAY 3-5 PM ($15 suggested Donation)

Sangria and snacks

3120 Lakeville Highway, Petaluma

Stay for Dinner and Zocalos will donate a % to Friends of Shollenberger Park

#2 SAVE THE DATE JUNE 14^th

LAGUNITAS BEER GARDEN PARTY & BENEFIT CONCERT

ENTERTAINMENT

RIVEREENS

FOXES IN THE HEN HOUSE

PLUS

Three Legged Sister

Gabby Lala

Guillermo Garcia

6 PM DOORS OPEN

ALL AGES $20 VIP $100

How to Donate

2011-02-18T21:30:00.000-08:00

IT’S AS EASY AS 1, 2, 3!

1. WRITE A CHECK TO: OWL FOUNDATION, memo, Friends of Shollenberger

(tax-deductible)

2. CLICK DONATE (in upper right hand corner of website) TO LINK to the

O.W.L. FOUNDATION, our umbrella 501(c)3

( tax- deductible) or click HERE.

CHECKS can be made out to Friends of Shollenberger Park (these are not tax deductible) OR to O.W.L. Foundation (tax deductible!)

MAIL ALL CHECKS TO:

Legal Defense Fund

Friends of Shollenberger Park

P.O. Box 2114

Petaluma, CA 94953

WHY TO DONATE:

1. Shollenberger Park and the Petaluma Wetlands are in danger of degradation by the proposed Dutra asphalt factory and associated 147,000 truck trips a year.

2. Legal action can challenge the Sonoma Board of Supervisors 3-2 vote for the project and protect the environment.

Zoning changes, General Plan Amendments, and building permits can be stopped – but it will take your commitment and your financial support.

3.Our top legal team of CEQA attorneys will save the day for our park, our wildlife, our air quality, and our vision for a healthy Petaluma for tomorrow – give to the Legal Fund to Save Shollenberger today!

Don’t wait, this appeal is time sensitive, as sensitive as the eco-system of the Petaluma Wetlands, as sensitive as the developing lungs of our children. Every donation helps and is gratefully received.

Friends of Shollenberger Park thanks you for your support! We welcome your participation and input.

ADOPT A WILD ONE!

2011-01-27T20:22:00.000-08:00

PRESERVE and PROTECT
SHOLLENBERGER PARK

Choose one or more, only $20 each. Your sponsorship helps Friends of Shollenberger Park do the work to preserve these animals and their nests and burrows.

____ x $20= _____ River Otter
____ x $20= _____ Western Pond Turtle
____ x $20= _____ Red-shouldered Hawk
____ x $20= _____ Red-tailed Hawk
____ x $20= _____ White-tailed Kite
____ x $20=_____ Barn Owl
____ x $20=_____ American White Pelican
____ x $20=_____ Great Egret
____ x $20=_____ Great Blue Heron
____ x $20= _____ Ruddy Duck Family
____ x $20=_____ Cinnamon Teal pair
____ x $20=_____ American Kestrel (a falcon)

Subtotal: _____
Shipping: $4
Total: _____

Payment by check only. Make check payable to Friends of Shollenberger Park and send to :

Friends of Shollenberger Park
PO Box 2114, Petaluma, CA 94953

For each animal chosen,
YOU WILL RECEIVE:
• A beautiful 8 x 10 color photograph of the animal
• An official certificate of adoption
• A BIG THANK YOU from all of the animals who live at Shollenberger Park!

Name:________________________
Address:______________________
Town: ______________State:____
Zip: _______email:_____________
Phone: ________________

To download a .pdf version of the order form click HERE.

(Clockwise from top left: Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Red Tailed Hawk, Red Shouldered Hawk, White Tailed Kite)

GIVE THE GIFT of the
LOVE and APPRECIATION
of LOCAL WILDLIFE

Your favorite bird lover, grandchild, niece or nephew, daughter or son, teacher or nature lover will appreciate knowing your gift helped save the salt water marsh inhabitants of the Petaluma Wetlands. They’ll receive a beautiful color photo (8 x 10) of the animal of your choice, a certificate of adoption, and a BIG THANK YOU from all of the animals who live at Shollenberger Park.

(Clockwise from top left: American White Pelican, North American River Otter, Western Pond Turtle, Cinnamon Teal)

Adopt A WILD ONE!

PRESERVE and PROTECT
SHOLLENBERGER PARK
by SUPPORTING
FRIENDS of
SHOLLENBERGER PARK
through your
sponsorship of a BIRD,

a TURTLE, a RIVER OTTER and MORE!

(American Kestrel, Ruddy Duck)

Lawsuit Filed January 14, 2011

2011-01-15T14:58:00.001-08:00

For Immediate Release: January 14, 2011, Petaluma, Calif.

Destructive Dutra Asphalt Plant Challenged
The City of Petaluma, community groups and individual citizens seek a legal remedy to protect the environment from Dutra's asphalt plant construction and operations at Haystack Landing, Petaluma, Calif.

Today, the City of Petaluma and a large coalition of citizen groups and individuals have filed a lawsuit challenging the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors' flawed approval on Dec. 14, 2011, of the Dutra Haystack Landing Asphalt and Recycling Plant. The Plaintiffs maintain that the Dutra Asphalt Plant would blight the gateway to Sonoma County and Petaluma, harm the health of residents, businesses and visitors, and negatively impact the development of our local and regional economy. The factory would injure and discourage birds, fish and wildlife which use the Petaluma River and Marsh. Plaintiffs also assert that the Dutra factory operations would also destroy the peace, beauty and appeal of the very popular and adjacent Shollenberger Park.

After actively participating in the County's review and approvals process over the past three years, the City of Petaluma, community organizations including the Petaluma River Council, Friends of Shollenberger Park, Madrone Audubon Society and Petaluma Tomorrow, along with thousands of individual citizens, are frustrated and disappointed that this project has been approved. The Plaintiffs have exhausted all other remedies with the County, and are left with no choice other than to seek judicial review of the approvals process and the impacts of the project itself.

"The County's review and approvals process, and the Dutra project itself, are littered with numerous serious and irresponsible flaws," said Petaluma River Council Director David Keller.

The County failed to properly apply the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the county's General Plan, and land use law to identify the impacts caused by the project, to find alternatives that were less harmful, and to mitigate damages that were not otherwise avoidable, as required by the law. CEQA was put in place by the State of California to help ensure that our landscape, environment, health and well being would be protected from harm. The County failed to properly produce the CEQA-required single, clear, comprehensive and comprehensible Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the entirety of the project, leaving the public, other agencies, and the decision makers ill-informed about project components, impacts and problems contained in the final plans approved.

Sheri Chlebowski, President of Moms for Clean Air, stated: "Our children's health and the welfare of all of our City's residents must not be put at risk for the financial profit of one company."

The errors and omissions include:
- a patchwork of disorganized addenda and conclusions inadequately describing an ever-changing project without supporting analysis;
- erroneous and misleading mapping of the River's navigable waterway and high-pressure PG&E gas transmission pipelines located under Dutra's riverfront parcel;
- unmitigated traffic congestion and diesel exhaust air pollution from over 145,000 truck trips per year;
- failure to accurately and adequately address significant loud noise, odors, toxic and noxious emissions of gases and dusts from the asphalt manufacturing operations;
- the assertion that the project is "river-dependent," when in fact it does not include any barge and tug transport and unloading of rock, gravel and sand at Dutra's properties. The project thus does not qualify for zoning and land use changes, and could be located on a less environmentally-sensitive site.
- the County ignored the fact that sufficient, unused asphalt manufacturing capacity to serve the North Bay region's needs already exists without Dutra's factory, as stated in the Draft EIR.
- the County failed to find any agreement by Shamrock Materials to make their adjacent property and barge landing facilities available to Dutra for receiving, unloading and transporting some 500,000 tons of sand and gravel components for asphalt production. Shamrock, as an integral component of the approved Dutra project, underwent no environmental review, even though the county has required destruction of .48 acre of wetlands on Shamrock's property to construct a conveyor belt to Dutra's site.
- the County failed to honor and abide by the November 1998 Sonoma County voters' decision to protect the Dairy Belt Scenic Corridor against intensification and industrialization of agricultural and commercial lands. This voter-protected Scenic Corridor, in an area paralleling Highway 101 from the Marin County line to the southern edge of Petaluma, includes the Dutra parcels. Instead, the County dismissed the voters' mandate and changed the land use and zoning to give Dutra the industrial designations that they wanted, without seeking the voter approvals required for that change.

"Our county's elected officials have failed to use the laws in place to protect the electorate and the environment. Public parks and trails are crucial for the health and well-being of the community, especially in tough economic times, and must be protected," said Joan Cooper, spokesperson for Friends of Shollenberger Park.

After some 100 years of abuse, filling, diking, development and destruction, the tidal wetlands of San Francisco and San Pablo Bays, along with their important tributaries such as the Petaluma River and Marsh, have been undergoing revitalization, renewal, restoration and preservation during the past 40 years. These tidal wetlands and rivers are essential to our region for fish and wildlife, water quality, recreation, commerce and flood management, and are the foundation of our regions' attractiveness and wealth. Millions of public and private dollars have been invested in the restoration and preservation of the upper Petaluma River and Marsh, including the city-owned Shollenberger Park, Alman Marsh, and the Ellis Creek Water Recycling facility with their popular trails, vistas and wildlife. Building and operating the Dutra asphalt manufacturing factory in the midst of these publicly-owned natural resources would destroy the work done by thousands of people and businesses, striving to return the river gateway for Petaluma and Sonoma County to its vibrant and productive identity.

The County's Brown Act violations are a significant barrier to public participation.

The County further compounded the erroneous and inadequate project review under CEQA by committing serious Brown Act and procedural violations. The Plaintiffs are demanding that the Board of Supervisors correct the substantial flaws of their December 14, 2010 public hearing and project approvals. The Board of Supervisors denied the public its right to comment on over 100 pages of critical new information released just hours prior to this final meeting. These documents were released without proper notice and distribution to public and agencies which had requested notification. No one from the public, including Petaluma's elected officials, were allowed to comment on the new information prior to the Supervisors vote to approve the project. The Supervisors also did not properly introduce and approve the two resolutions and ordinance approving the project and the environmental report and changing the land use designations for the site. This is a violation of state law and good public policy.

"We are proud of the important work done by residents, businesses and organizations in Petaluma to protect our community's values, well-being and economy. The City of Petaluma unanimously joins with them to defend and protect our city and the gifts that surround us," said Petaluma Mayor David Glass.

View court petition

View Brown Act letter

FINAL VOTE BUT NOT THE FINAL ACT

2010-12-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

FINAL VOTE 3 -2 in favor of Dutra.
Kelley, Kerns and Carrillo vote YES to amend the General Plan and rezone the Dutra parcels to light industrial. Supervisors Zane and Brown vote NO.

Yesterday the county counsel and planning staff made a mockery of CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act), which was created to protect the environment and the citizen’s right to participate in the CEQA process. Yesterday morning at 9 AM 180+ pages of information were released by county planning staff to our attorneys and limited distribution, with only 4 hours until the hearing. The new information was not distributed to the list of interested citizen parties and no one was allowed speak at the hearing.

Sonoma County Legal Counsel advised the Board to prohibit public comment on the Dutra agenda item. Even Mayor Torliatt, Vice Mayor Glass, Council members Rene and Barrett were not allowed to speak.

What exactly did the Supervisors NOT want to hear?

NO information on the environmental impact of building a conveyor belt across Shamrock’s mitigated wetlands.

NO questioning of why there is no Health Risk Analysis for Revision I, the third version of the Dutra project.

NO pointing out that there is no written agreement with Shamrock, indicating Shamrock’s willingness to supply Dutra with aggregate for the next 50 years.

Supervisor Zane did point out that the project cannot operate without SMART approval of the conveyor crossing its tracks. It cannot go forward without Shamrock’s agreement, so she asked why vote to approve a General Plan amendment, with no assurance these pieces will come together? She voted NO.

Supervisor Brown was still concerned with Dutra’s record and voted NO.

Supervisors Kerns, Kelley and Carrillo, willing to sacrifice our public park and fresh air for Dutra’s private profits and 7-10 jobs ,voted YES. Kerns, Kelley and Carrillo continued to ignore the unanimous opposition of the City Council of Petaluma, Mayor Torliatt, and to ignore District 2 Supervisor-Elect David Rabbit’s public statement of opposition.

NEXT STEPS:

LEGAL DEFENSE FUND NOW OPEN!

Friends of Shollenberger announce the Legal Defense Fund Campaign to challenge the County’s woefully confused, incomplete, and illegal process.

DONATE TODAY TO SAVE THE PARK
STOP DUTRA FROM DEGRADING OUR TOWN
(donations are tax -deductible)

CLICK DONATE (top-right corner of website)
or Send Checks to:
O.W.L. Foundation
c/o Friends of Shollenberger Park
PO BOX 2114
Petaluma 94953

ATTEND THE PETALUMA CITY COUNCIL MEETING!

Monday, December 20th
6:00pm
City Hall

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR OUR COUNCIL’S OPPOSITION TO THE DUTRA ASPHALT FACTORY AT OUR GATEWAY

Public's right to speak at Dutra Hearing: Brown Act requirements

2010-12-13T22:13:00.000-08:00

Always more Dutra Drama, just when you thought we'd had enough.

The County says that the Dutra hearing is "closed to public comment".

Do not allow the Press Democrat or Argus, City councils, County supervisors or any other public boards tell you that you can be prohibited from speaking at a public meeting to any item either on or off the agenda. The Press Democrat has erroneously repeated county counsel's seriously flawed assertion that the hearing for voting on tomorrow's Dutra Asphalt Plant project is "closed to public comment."

Brett Wilkison double checked this afternoon with County Counsel Steve Woodside and assistant County Counsel Dave Hurst, who both repeated that they are acting in accordance with the Brown Act and can forbid public comment on Dutra.

However, the Brown Act requires that you will be allowed to speak. Generally, the public can speak to any agendized item at the time it is being heard. The public can speak to any item not on the agenda during the general public comment periods of a meeting, as set by the public agency or board.

Come on up, and express yourself for your allotted 3 minutes. Dutra will start sometime around 3pm tomorrow, Tuesday 12/14.

As of 4:30pm today, our attorney is also drafting a letter on this for tomorrow, citing also the Bakersfield Citizens case, which clearly holds that public comment must be accepted up to and including the final hearing. The PD is now going to do a story on this for tomorrow, quoting Terry Franke, www.calaware.org, who has litigated successfully a number of times on this area.

FINAL VOTE on DUTRA ASPHALT FACTORY

2010-12-09T23:52:00.000-08:00

Let's show them, they can't wear us out or down - we will never give up fighting for Shollenberger Park and the health of our community.

ATTEND THE HEARING

Drop everything, bring the kids, and show up! They count heads, so hold yours up high! Stay for a while, even if you can’t stay for the whole hearing.

If you come at the beginning you can help hold up our sign
“NO ASPHALT PLANT NEAR OUR PARK”

If you’re there by 3 PM you’ll have an opportunity to speak to the Supervisors and put it on the record.

THE LAST SUPERVISORS HEARING ON DUTRA
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2010
1:30 – 5:00 PM
Agenda Item 5 – Dutra Asphalt Plant
Supervisors' Chambers
575 Administration Drive
Santa Rosa, CA

Friends of Shollenberger Park Needs Your Participation to Save the Park!

People of Petaluma Speak Out Against Supes Straw Vote on Dutra

2010-10-31T13:51:00.000-07:00

80% of Respondents are Against Locating the Dutra Factory at Haystack Landing

Is anybody listening?
Poll: Supes made wrong decision on asphalt plant

by Pulse.Of.Petaluma

An overwhelming number of people who responded to the Argus-Courier's online poll October 21, 2010 feel that that the Board of Supervisors made the wrong decision on October 12 when it voted to approve a proposed asphalt plant south of town. More than 80 percent said it was a wrong decision and that the public did not have adequate time to review the 1,100 pages of documents describing the revised, reduced asphalt plant.

Here are some of the comments from those who responded to the poll. Read more comments at the pulse of Petaluma blog at Petaluma 360.

"I don't feel like the majority of the supervisors are listening to the citizens of Petaluma. To allow an asphalt plant in this beautiful and vulnerable area does not make sense. This is not something that can be reconstructed if it gets destroyed. This is one of the few remaining wetlands of its kind, something that we need to save for future generations. It is part of the fabric of Petaluma."

"I am offended and frustrated with this whole situation. Petaluma invested space and tax dollars to create a pleasant environment for wildlife and our citizens to enjoy, only to be compromised by the selfish interest of big business. Why would we want ugly forced upon our lives here in Petaluma? Would the people of Dutra want a view of their asphalt plant out their living room window?"

Last 8 Weeks of the Fight against Dutra in 2010

2010-10-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

Next Step:

We’ll stop them in The Courts

Donate for the Legal Defense !

The Community vs. Dutra Materials and The County of Sonoma 2011

Dear Friends of Shollenberger Park,

The Board of Supervisors’ straw vote on October 12, 2010 is not the end of the line for our campaign. We WILL stop Dutra from locating next to our park. If not with a vote from the Supervisors then in the courts with a lawsuit proving the inadequacy of the EIR and the hearing process, exposing the lack of compliance with CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act).

It’s important to note our successes since this battle for our right to fresh air and well-being began:

1. We have exposed Dutra and their hired consulting engineer Al Cornwall, CSW Stueber Stroeh, as giving false map information on the location of the navigable channel and PG&E transmission pipes to the County and the US Coast Guard.

2. We have delayed final approval hearing of the project originally on the agenda from December 2008 to December 2010.

3. We have pressured Dutra into scaling back the project – eliminating Dutra’s ability to barge aggregate; eliminating the noisy and polluting recycling of asphalt on the property; lowering the towers 12 feet.

4. We have made public that the Dutra project is no longer a water dependent operation and is in reality a truck dependent project.

It’s important to thank our elected officials who have actively supported us and enabled us to achieve these victories:

Thank you to Mayor Pam Torliatt for leading the Petaluma City Council to defend Petaluma’s best interests by rallying unanimous City Council opposition to the Dutra Project and speaking out forcefully at all Sonoma County Board of Supervisors’ hearings on Dutra.

Thank you to Vice Mayor Dave Glass for representing the voice of the majority of the Petaluma community and speaking out at every Sonoma Board of Supervisors meeting on the Dutra asphalt plant. He has made it clear that this project is bad for business, bad for job creation, bad for the tourist driven economy of Petaluma and Southern Sonoma County.

Thank you to Council Member Teresa Barrett for supporting Friends of Shollenberger and encouraging the community to make their voices heard, and for being an outspoken advocate for clean air, preserving our environment, and protecting our city’s asset – Shollenberger Park.

What can you do? Send tax-deductible donations to O.W.L. Foundation, note that it is for the Shollenberger Legal Defense. This year, consider choosing Friends of Shollenberger (OWL) as your non-profit of choice for charitable donations, and make saving Shollenberger Park your priority. See the website: http://www.saveshollenberger.com/ for how and where to send your contributions.

Joan Cooper

Our Community Will Win

2010-10-13T14:29:00.000-07:00

I am very disappointed with the 3 votes to support Dutra. The outcome seemed wired from the beginning of the meeting. The public had virtually no chance of providing new and corrected information and comments to the Supervisors, given both the extremely short timeline to review over 1100 pages of documents released just last week, and given the 3 minute limits of talking to the Supervisors.

We very much appreciate Supervisors Brown and Zane's understanding of core issues about the asphalt plant's damaging health and air quality impacts, among other issues. I am very proud of our community, both our old and new friends and allies, who continue to address these problems with vigor, creativity, intelligence, caring and good will.

We will be meeting to determine our next steps shortly. We believe strongly that our community will win, and prevent Dutra from building any asphalt plant at the entrance to our community and the Gateway to Sonoma County. It remains the wrong plant, in the wrong place, with the wrong company.

~ David Keller

Supervisors conduct straw vote 3-2 in favor of Dutra

2010-10-12T21:12:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately, our Sonoma County Supervisors conducted a straw vote this afternoon 3-2 in favor of the Dutra Asphalt Factory.

Supervisors Shirlee Zane and Valerie Brown voted against the factory citing various concerns including Dutra's record of violations and the substantial health concerns.

Supervisors Mike Kerns, Paul Kelley & Efren Carrillo voted in favor of Dutra.

Stay tuned for our next steps on preventing this factory from being built in our community.

Kerns' Towers....Your Legacy

2010-10-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

We Need You Tomorrow!

2010-10-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

We need you tomorrow, Tuesday October 12th! If at all possible, please plan to attend this final hearing.

Your Sonoma County Board of Supervisors will decide the fate of the Dutra Asphalt Factory at Haystack Landing in Petaluma, right across the river from Shollenberger Park.

This could be our last opportunity to speak our minds to the Supervisors and show what kind of county we want. Please join us!!

TUESDAY OCTOBER 12TH
Supervisors Chambers
575 Administration Drive, Room 100A,
Santa Rosa, CA

The agenda item is scheduled for just after 2pm but arrive early (1pm) to ensure you get access to the chambers.

Bring friends and family...don't forget snacks, it could last hours. Arrive anytime between 1pm and 4pm as it will still be going on.

We will be carpooling at Noon from our Headquarters in Petaluma, located at 322 Western Avenue, next to the Tea Room Cafe.

Thank you for your support and we'll see you tomorrow!

Health Forum Video Clips

2010-10-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

Following are excerpts from the September 30, 2010 Community Health Forum "Potential Health Impacts of the Proposed Dutra Asphalt Plant" sponsored by the Petaluma Health Care District

Friends of Shollenberger Park and Moms For Clean Air invited 2 speakers to this event. Dr. James Clark is a toxicologist with 20 years of experience researching the effects of environmental contaminants on human health. Dr. Brock-Utne is a pediatrician and is the Community and Primary Care Project Director of the Region 9 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit at UCSF.

The complete health care forum will be broadcast on PCA soon. These are the first clips of this event to become available. They were posted to YouTube just last night!

Dr. Clark's presentation:

Dr. Brock-Utne presentation:

Response to Aimi Dutra's "Asphalt Magic"

2010-10-08T14:06:00.000-07:00

Dutra would have us believe that they can make an asphalt factory without any releases of toxins or noxious fumes and dusts. Ms. Dutra’s p.r. pitch is ‘everything is wonderful’. Tragically, this is not the case.

Having visited Ms. Dutra’s earlier version of what she called their ‘state of the art, ideal Astec plant’ in Ontario, I know first hand of the leaks, the smells, the noise and the dusts coming from not only the plant itself, but also from the trucks hauling in rock and leaving with un-tarped asphalt loads. During peak production, when they are running 24/7 to fill government contracts, that means heavy trucks every 3-5 minutes, all day and night.

And if you want to get to Hwy 101 in the morning or afternoon rush hours, they predict stop and go traffic waiting for trucks at the Landing Way/Petaluma Boulevard So. intersection.

The Dutra Companies have a terrible legal and environmental record, stretching from the Port of Miami (FL) to the Gulf of the Farralones National Marine Sanctuary, filled with illegal dumping, dredging, huge fines and settlements, and bankruptcy. While Dutra has pitched their perfection to the community, the reality is unfortunately way short of their rosy pictures.

Now that Dutra’s fabrications here trying to hide their blocking of the Petaluma River’s navigational channel, and their having falsely mapped PG&E’s high pressure gas pipelines – the kind that just blew up in San Bruno – out of the way and onto their neighbor’s parcel (pipelines marked on Dutra’s parcels with 4×8 signs, “No anchoring. No dredging”), both of which we uncovered (no thanks to Sonoma County’s planning department), Dutra has eliminated their barging of materials.

The operations are not ‘river-dependent’, and Dutra will not bring one ounce of new shipping tonnage to our river. So much for their claims to help with river dredging.

In fact, had the county done their due diligence 6 years ago when Dutra proposed the barging scenario, we would have been able to move this operation to a more suitable location, away from Shollenberger Park, with the residences, businesses and tourists who use it and work near it.

All along, Dutra has fabricated information about their proposal. Why would they stop now?

Those who have recently posted here saying, ‘Petaluma has to take their share of asphalt pollution, and not increase pollution at Santa Rosa’s asphalt plants’ are just echoing Dutra’s perversion of environmental justice. You don’t spread pollution around. Instead, the right thing to do is to clean it up.
Dutra doesn’t get that.

This remains the wrong plant, in the wrong place.

The Public Deserves Better!

2010-10-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

We have just received incomplete documentation from the Permit and Resource Management Department on Dutra's latest version (Revision II) of the proposal, less than 6 days before the October 12th, 2010 hearing for public comment.

Please email the Supervisors and demand a postponement (sample letter below):

1st District Supervisor Valerie Brown

2nd District Supervisor Mike Kerns

3rd District Supervisor Shirlee Zane

4th District Supervisor Paul Kelley

5th District Supervisor Efren Carrillo

Sample letter:

Oct. 6, 2010

Dear Chairman Valerie Brown
Sup. Zane, Sup. Kerns, Sup. Carrillo, Sup. Kelley:

Environmental reports on the Dutra Proposal (Revision II) are arriving piecemeal, incomplete and too late for the public to adequately review and respond to at the Tuesday, October 12th Hearing. Please consider re-scheduling the Dutra Hearing to allow the public reasonable time to receive and review the documents and all back-up data. There is no time for the public and decision makers to make an informed decision in public based on the merits and impacts of the project, as firmly required by CEQA law and case law. Email and printed versions of the documents should be mailed to all "persons of interest" who requested to be kept informed.

Respectfully,

Or click here for their phone, fax & address

The environmental reports and their back up data is late and incomplete. The public deserves better! We demand a continuance and that the hearing be rescheduled!

I just read PRMD Steve Padovan’s summary letter to the Board of Supervisors (OCT 4, 2010) reviewing Revision II, as they call the latest Dutra Asphalt Plant Proposal. In it he reviews for the Supervisors’ enlightenment, the two new options proposed by Dutra to replace their original plan to dock barges at their riverside parcel. Remember how green their plan pretended to be? They touted adding tonnage to the river to insure dredging by the Army Core of Engineers, and also taking trucks off the road. Not happening anymore. Now they are adding trucks (47,000+) and slipping in under Shamrock’s use permit for tonnage. No added tonnage. Definitely added traffic.

Dutra’s first plan to dock barges at Haystack Landing was based on falsified maps provided by Dutra to the County. Dutra’s version of the maps conveniently relocated the PG &E’s pipes to intersect with Shamrock’s riverside property and also drew the navigable channel beginning at the eastern bank of the river- not possible, too shallow. Both were lies engineered to make their proposal look possible. They wasted everybody’s time, five years of our time and the Supervisors’ time with a fake map. PG & E ‘s “No Mooring No Dredging” signs at the site indicate major 12-inch tandem high-pressure natural gas transmission pipes( Marin to Ukiah) that intersect Dutra’s originally proposed docking location. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the Dutras’ barging plan would never work, but Padovan’s team missed it. Or looked the other way?

The current proposal (Revision II), which will be the subject of TUESDAY OCTOBER 12TH 2 PM Supervisors’ Hearing in Santa Rosa, is summarized in Padovan’s memo. Dutra proposes two options to deliver 500,000 tons of aggregate from Shamrock‘s operation at Landing Way to Dutra’s Asphalt Factory at Haystack Landing (1/2mile south and part of the route is along our roads, Petaluma Blvd So):

OPTIONS:

1) To build a conveyor belt from Landing Way, across Shamrock’s mitigated wetlands (required by their Use Permit in 2004) across P G & E’s three safety and maintenance easements (Think San Bruno explosion) over the high pressure natural gas pipes, along the Petaluma River and into Dutra’s operational area (it will be elevated over the Smart Train right of way.)

OR

2) To truck the 500,000 tons of aggregate from Shamrock to Dutra :

“the trucking operation will result in 43,478 additional truck trips per year (500,000 tons/23 tons per truck x 2).” Steve Padovan

Or BOTH!

PRMD says Dutra would like the option to truck for several years until the conveyor option can be put in place or possibly use both means of transport ad infinitem. It’s unclear as Is the whole Project Description.

It is a confused and piecemeal description that does not meet CEQA’s requirements for the public to have a clear description of the project. Padovan’s letter, which is supposed to inform the Supervisors, so they can make an informed decision, refers to the Draft DEIR, “the first project revision”, Revision II, the various versions and computations of the BAAQMD and the OEHHA Health Risk Analyses and we are left knowing less, not more. He tries to conclude whether the new version (Revision II) is better or worse for our health than the old ones, and the answer is: Depends on whom you ask or what you include in the new description.

Padovan discusses diesel exhaust , NOx, ,particulate matter (PM 10 only, not PM 2.5), fugitive emissions, odors (Hydrogen Sulfide.). Whatever the number game, we know that all these toxic by-products are going to be added to our air. Whether or not they are above the legally acceptable limits, depends on which limits you apply.

In this case Dutra wants a “Get Out of Jail Free” card on emissions, because their project application predates the recently adopted by the BAAQMD in June 2010 CEQA standards. We are further confused by new DEIR air quality consultant Baseline, reviewing the previous BAAQMD analysis and including Environ’s analysis (Dutra’s private air quality consultant, which whined that original BAAQMD HRSA analysis was too conservative.)

Too conservative for whom? BAAQMD standards are dated 1999 and do not reflect current science on the link between disease and pollution. PM 2.5 is not analyzed at all and cumulative impacts of 101, Shamrock and other operations nearby are not included. However Padovan does state:

“NOx was previously significant.. and the truck option increases this.” Pg. 5

“As under the Original Project, the overall net increase in NOx from the operation of the revised project would continue to exceed BAAQMD’s 1999 CEQA Threshold of Significance of 80 per day (Note: The 80 pounds per day is an adopted threshold from the BAAQMD 1999 CEQA Guidelines. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) adopted revised CEQA thresholds by Resolution No. 2010-06 on June 2, 2010. Resolution No. 2010-06…” pg. 8

I will go through each section of the letter for you and give you highlights:
PLP04-0406 BOS Memo 10-12-10

First topic: Visual Impact:

Pg. 6
“Overall visual character of the site, with large aggregate stockpiles and an asphalt plant” will continue to dominate views.

Pg. 7
“The revised Project II would still result in significant and unavoidable impacts to scenic vistas and to the visual character of the project site and its surroundings.”

Stay tuned and mark your calendars: Attend the October 12 Meeting – take a personal day and protect our Shollenberger Park!

Joan Cooper

Asphalt Plant Center Of Debate In Petaluma

2010-10-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

Click for news coverage on KTVU

Last night we had a pivotal meeting, "The Health Forum on the Potential Impacts of the Proposed Dutra Asphalt Plant," sponsored by the Petaluma Health Care District responsible for the health and well-being of Southern Sonoma County. There were about 175 people there. The evidence presented by Dr. James Clark and Dr. Alice Brock-Utne was sobering and blew away any health comfort level that the Dutra presenters tried to establish regarding diesel exhaust and asphalt by-products. Dr. Alice Brock-Utne basically presented how vulnerable children and developing fetuses are, how lungs continue to develop after birth and negative changes possible in actual lung structure and function through the teen years.

The diesel exhaust and associated 2.5 particulate matter which this project would bring to this currently healthy air space, would particularly affect our children who exercise there, the schools and their students which are located within a two mile radius and who play outside, and pregnant women and infants. Currently applied thresholds (BAAQMD Health Risk Analysis) to the project do not adequately reflect children, because children have not been included in the calculations of acceptable thresholds.

Each individual reacts differently, so even when talking about healthy adults or seniors, one person may be able tolerate added pollution with only a decreased lung capacity, while another may have an asthma attack. Some of a person's adult health and sensitivity is linked to ones history of exposure to pollution as a developing child, which impacts the ability of lungs to repair themselves and also may make adults and children more allergic or more sensitive. The growing incidence of allergies and asthma is linked to air pollution. Asthmais already at record high levels in Sonoma County. Today there was a study reported on linking 2.5 particulate matter, which is contained in diesel exhaust, to the rise in diabetes.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/green/detail?entry_id=73586&tsp=1

Dr.Brock-Utne urged caution and careful consideration of approval of any project: it requires a joint collaboration of decision makers including elected officials, government agencies, scientists and doctors, and the community. Dr. James Clark, toxicologist, urged consideration of the cumulative impacts of many smaller project. So if the Dutra Proposal would potentially increase cancer by 6 .7 people per million, and there are 10 projects of this size approved in the next few years, plus the permitted existing projects with their cancer risks, the community starts to have a significant rise incumulative cancers per million. In other words it all adds up. Also Dr. Clark pointed out that the direction in EPA tolerance of criteria pollutants is always moving downward as more science informs the link between pollutants and disease. He gave as an example the descending officially acceptable levels of lead over the past 30 years, which is now at zero tolerance for children. The Health Care Forum can be viewed in its entirety on PCA. Schedule to follow.

Joan Cooper

Friends of Shollenberger Park

County Hearing on October 12th!

2010-10-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

Last Call: Health Forum on Asphalt Plant Impacts this Thursday 9/30!

2010-09-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

Join us this Thursday, September 30th for the Petaluma Health Care District's COMMUNITY HEALTH FORUM ON THE PROPOSED DUTRA ASPHALT FACTORY.

COME AND LEARN ABOUT THE POTENTIAL IMPACT THIS ASPHALT PLANT WILL HAVE ON YOU AND YOUR FAMILY'S HEALTH.

Don't miss this opportunity to hear experts discuss the impacts of asphalt toxins on air quality and children.

Speaking by invitation of Moms for Clean Air and Friends of Shollenberger:

Dr. Alice Brock-Utne received her BA from the University of California,Berkeley and her MD from the University of California, Davis. She completedher residency at the University of California, San Francisco. A fellow ofthe American Academy of Pediatrics, she is a General Pediatrician with MarinCommunity Clinics. She is also the Project Director, Community and PrimaryCare Projects, Region 9 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit,University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. James Clark is a well-recognized toxicologist, air modeler, and health scientist. He has 20 years of experience in researching the effects of environmental contaminants on human health, including toxicology and exposure assessment modeling, and risk assessment and dispersion modeling. He conducts and manages human health risk assessments for regulatory compliance and risk-based remdiation efforts. Over the course of his career he has authored or co-authored numerous books, book chapters and journal articles on environmental contaminants and human health. He is a member of the American Public Health Association (APHA), the Association for Environmental Health and Sciences (AEHS), California Redevelopment Association (CRA), International Society of Environmental Forensics (ISEF), the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). Dr. Clark received his BS in Biophysical and Biochemical Sciences from the University of Houston, and his MS and PhD in Environmental Health Science from the University of California at Los Angeles. His environmental consulting firm, Clark and Associates, provides services across the United States.

These experts will educate us on the toxins produced by asphalt manufacturing and by truck, tug, and on-site mobile diesel engines.

Dutra's invited speakers are:

Dr. David Weill, a lung transplant and asbestosis expert from Stanford Medical Center and witness for Dutra Materials at the Marin Supervisors' Hearing regarding San Pedro Point Road Dutra Quarry impacts on that community.

Also speaking will be a Sales Representative of Astec Manufacturing, Inc. on the bag filter system technology of the proposed plant.

ATTEND THE FORUM TO ASK YOUR OWN QUESTIONS!

COME PREPARED with written questions. A 45 minute question and answer session with the speakers will follow their presentations.

Thursday, September 30, 2010
7:00-9:00pm
Petaluma Community Center, Lucchesi Park
320 No. McDowell Blvd, Petaluma

Sponsored by the Petaluma Health Care District

Spread the Word

2010-09-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

HELP SPREAD THE WORD: Health Forum on Proposed Dutra Asphalt Plant

Dutra Asphalt Factory plus hundreds of diesel trucks coming to Petaluma?

SEPTEMBER 30, Thursday

7:00-9:00 pm

Petaluma Community Center - Lucchesi Park

320 No. McDowell Blvd, Petaluma

It is imperative that we have an excellent turnout! Questions will be taken from the audience and Dutra will no doubt pack the hall with their employees.

Please mark your calendars and plan to attend! Print the attached .pdf flyer and post. Put a flyer at each door on your own block.

Put flyers up in all possible venues! Your doctor's office, your haircutter, pet groomer, your favorite restaurant...

Post on all possible social networks! Send to your e-mail lists, Facebook friends, clubs...

Link to PDF Printable File

Note: Moms For Clean Air, Friends of Shollenberger Park, The Petaluma Health Care District and the Dutra Corp. have mutually agreed that this event will be free of signage, stickers, buttons, etc. either for or against the asphalt plant.

Health Forum on Dutra Asphalt Plant

2010-09-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

Join us for an informational evening about your family’s health.

Health Impacts of Proposed Dutra Asphalt Plant in South Sonoma County

Thursday, September 30, 2010

7:00-9:00pm

Petaluma Community Center, Lucchesi Park

320 No. McDowell Blvd, Petaluma

The public is invited to listen to a group of experts speak on potential health impacts of the proposed Dutra asphalt plant. Dr. Alice Brock-Utne, Coordinator of Primary Care and Community Health Projects for the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU), University of California, will present current science on the topic. Other speakers to be announced.

Sponsored by the Petaluma Health Care District.

Don't miss this important opportunity to ask questions about the interaction between exercise, recreation and toxic chemicals.

Download the flyer HERE.

Oil Spill on Petaluma River

2010-09-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

"An estimated 200 to 600 gallons of gear lubricating engine oil leaked into the river, said state Fish and Game Warden Josh Nicholas...This is a major spill for Petaluma,” said Petaluma Fire Battalion Chief Mike Ahlin. “This entire river area to the citizens of Petaluma is incredibly valuable.”

"At Graffiti, a Second Street restaurant on a downtown bend of the river across from the Golden Eagle Shopping Center, general manager Jaime Marcalo said that while the spill didn't look particularly serious, “it affected our business tremendously.”

He said boat traffic on the river had disappeared and the spill produced an unpleasant odor that drove away customers."

Link to entire Press Democrat story.

Have you been to Shollenberger lately??

2010-08-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Head out and see see the beauty of the park! We have a new banner up encouraging support for our park. Thank you David for your graphic talent and Lisa for the donation of a new banner!

IT TAKES A COMMUNITY by Kay Chandler

2010-08-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

Kaye Chandler’s documentary, “It Takes A Community” is a tribute to the power of a community to define its values, express its hopes for a healthy place to live and work, and to fight for this vision. Filmed and edited by Kaye to communicate the knowledge gleaned and action taken by the Petaluma, CA community during the past 4 years as they oppose the powerful Dutra Materials Co. and its allies in County government.

Staring straight into the camera, we hear the reasoned, heartfelt, and determined voices of Mayor Pam Torliatt, Vice Mayor Dave Glass, Marin County Supervisor Susan Adams as they outline why Dutra’s Asphalt Plant will be bad for business, bad for housing values, and bad for residents’ health and well being. We hear from ordinary moms, who created an organization Moms For Clean Air, to inform other parents about the health risks this factory will pose to their families. We hear dedicated docents, (who guide schoolchildren through Shollenberger Park, a living laboratory, to learn about stewardship of our environment,) speak out about the inappropriateness of locating a toxic factory in full view of these lessons.

Excerpts from the Town Meeting in May 2009 called by Assemblyman Jared Huffman to educate the citizens about the Dutra Asphalt Plant’s ramifications, highlight Alan Pendley, chemist and materials engineer. His testimony on the toxic impact of asphalt by-products like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), Hydrogen Sulphide, and heavy metals rejects Dutra’s claims that the plant’s filtering technology is sufficient to protect the town’s air.

Longtime environmentalist, David Keller, and community activist and founder of Friends of Shollenberger Park, Joan Cooper, discuss the environmental degradation and dangers that a heavy industrial operation pose to this sensitive and nationally recognized wetlands.

Footage of great blue herons nesting, ducks swimming and birds flying in Shollenberger Park and the green vistas of the hillsides beyond are juxtaposed with the grinding engines of diesel trucks at a working asphalt plant and clouds of carcinogenic blue smoke rising from trucks loading up with hot asphalt. Point made.

“It Takes A Community” is one more effort to inform the community of what could happen to our park, our families and our future. It’s a call to action to get informed and speak up before its too late.. Don’t miss it. 55 minutes. Check the Petaluma Community Access and KRCB (Rohnert Park) for for schedule or request a copy for your organization.

It Takes A Community - documentary premiere on 8/15

2010-08-03T19:54:00.000-07:00

Join us on August 15th for the premiere of It Takes A Community, a documentary by Kaye Chandler.

IT TAKES A COMMUNITY by Kaye Chandler
AUGUST 15th, Sunday Evening Movie Premiere and Benefit
5:30-7:45pm ~ Dine Out
8:15pm ~ Showtime
Aqus Cafe - 189 H Street, Petaluma

This one-hour documentary details the grass roots efforts to save Shollenberger Park, the Petaluma Wetlands and our healthy community from the Dutra Asphalt Factory.

Meet for dinner or just come for the movie! A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Friends of Shollenberger by the generous folks at the Aqus Cafe.

Movie Premiere: 1 Hour documentary, "It Takes A Community" by Kaye Chandler

Seating is limited, so pre-buy your ticket to the film showing ($15 donation requested) at Aqus (cash or check only). Where is the Aqus, you ask? Click here

Dutra Project Morphs again!

2010-07-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

Dutra Project Morphs again!

In the face of Dutra's previous fabrications and implausible project proposals, they are now proposing another revised version of their asphalt plant operations:

Either

1. A 600+ ft. conveyor belt to carry aggregate and sand from Shamrock's existing sand and aggregate barge unloading site, just upstream from Dutra's site, to Dutra's asphalt factory. The conveyor belts would cut through Shamrock's previously required mitigation wetlands and over PG&E's high pressure gas transmission pipelines and easement. This arrangement would be a true eyesore and wildlife disruptor.

OR

2. Hauling the 500,000 tons/year of aggregate and sand from Shamrock's facility to Dutra's factory site with thousands of trucks, potentially operating 24/7, creating toxic and noxious diesel exhaust, noise, and bumper-to-bumper traffic at rush hour for people driving to or from Hwy. 101 on Petaluma Blvd. South.

AND

3. A Health Risk Analysis (HRA) prepared by Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), the regulatory agency that is supposed to provide air quality analyses and enforce standards, but which will be paid for this work by Dutra ONLY if their project is approved by the County.

AND

4. A Health Risk Analysis which so far has failed to measure the toxic, very small diesel exhaust particulate matter ("PM2.5"), which is a most dangerous pollution leading to cardiovascular disease, cancer and asthma, especially for children and people with breathing and circulatory problems.

AND

5. An Health Risk Analysis which doesn't comply with the newly approved regulations just adopted by the BAAQMD, which require cumulative analysis of sources of pollution within 1000 ft. of the Dutra property, including traffic on Hwy. 101 and on Shamrock's operations.Dutra's Asphalt Plant project application has been altered yet again on paper, in their attempts to slide past all the other huge problems they've run up against. They clearly hope to fool the Supervisors, public and county staff into believing that they are just an innocuous, small, family-owned company with a totally benign operation, suitable for locating adjacent to our Shollenberger Park, Petaluma River and Marsh, and near residents, businesses and tourists in Petaluma and Sonoma County.

Dutra has been wrong and misguided for the past 6 years - whether it's been their claims of no toxic blue-smoke fumes and no diesel exhaust impacts, their destructive impacts to the egret and heron rookery, Dutra's barge and tug intrusion into the river's navigable channel, their lying about the location of PG&E's pipelines, and a host of other problems - and it's time for the Supervisors to reject this hazardous shell-game, and end the Dutra Magic Show.

Friends of Shollenberger Park Awarded Grant from the Rose Foundation

2010-07-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

We are honored to announce that the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment has awarded us a grant for continuing outreach and community work to Save Shollenberger Park and help move our community in a direction of environmental appreciation and respect. Read more about the great work the Rose Foundation does for California and our environment at http://www.rosefdn.org/index. Thanks to everyone for your help in preserving Petaluma's natural treasures and keeping the spotlight on this important cause to save Shollenberger Park. Your energy, enthusiasm and creativity are essential to our on-going campaign.

VOTER INFORMATION GUIDE - VOTE Tuesday June 8th

2010-06-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

VOTER INFORMATION GUIDE

Don't forget to vote by MAIL or AT THE POLLS on Tuesday June 8th. We need our community to show up and be counted! Help preserve our park with a strong turnout on the County level!

The Candidates Weigh in on Dutra's apshalt Factory Proposal
Petaluma Argus - May 2, 2010

Pamela Torliatt:
The city, working with the Coastal Conservancy, Sonoma County OpenSpace District, National Parks Services, private companies and non-profit organizations, has invested millions of dollars to build eco-tourism and attract environmentally friendly businesses to Petaluma. The proposed Dutra asphalt batch and recycling plant puts this huge investment at risk that more than 150,000 people visit and enjoy annually. The visual impacts of the asphalt plant's two 70-foot asphalt emission stacks and storage silos cannot be overcome through mitigation.

Mike Healy:
I oppose the proposed asphalt plant. I do agree that a south countyasphalt plant would be helpful, if a suitable site can be identified. That hasn't happened yet. But it isn't accurate to imply that the condition of local streets has anything to do with this issue. That is entirely a funding issue.

John King:

One of the biggest stumbling blocks is the unlawful conduct claims against the Dutra facility in Marin County. We know the southern end of Sonoma County can survive without a new plant, but its intended location does have value in terms of providing material without additional transport costs and traffic loading on regional roads as product is hauled from Santa Rosa southward. As 2nd District supervisor, I need to satisfy the remaining questions I have in terms of what additional measures can be taken to diminish air pollution and related risks.

David Rabbitt:

Better community outreach up front when the proposal was first initiated might have helped alleviate some concerns or at least the community would have been given a venue to share their thoughts. I do believe the south county needs a local source of asphalt, more so with the anticipated freeway and road improvements. I believe the number of jobs created and augmented is significant as well as the money saved through proximity. Aesthetically, I have concerns, especially as one enters Petaluma from the south. For me, it remains to be seen whether these concerns can be remedied and overcome.

A Day At The Park - By Norris (Bob) Dyer

2010-05-16T18:29:00.000-07:00

The following is featured in the May issue of the Petaluma Post:

Rue Furch served on the Sonoma County Planning Commission for 16 years and was named Environmentalist of the Year by the Sonoma County Conservation Council in 2005. When the National Geographic Society sought an expert to identify places of interest for nature-lovers, she was an obvious choice to identify sites in our county.

Rue knew about Shollenberger Park and last fall searched for someone to do a web page for the Society’s visitredwoodcoast.com, then under construction. She finally found me, through David Keller, and the website and the page I fashioned went on line in January, thanks to Rue. I expanded the area to include the adjoining Alman Marsh and recently-opened Ellis Creek area.

As I have written before, there are 46 million birders in this country, who create 32 billion dollars in retail sales yearly. I believe the website will attract visitors to our “Petaluma Wetlands." While here, they will not only hike our trails and check out our birds, but also eat, drink and (hopefully) be merry. Petaluma needs this sort of cash infusion right now as we all know.

There are several ways to access this new web page. The full name of the website is "California’s Redwood Coast: Paradise Untamed." On the home page, select "Main Map" for all attractions in the redwood coast. At the right side of this map, hit “Select" to clear out all the check marks, then check “Natural Area” and find the appropriate leaf icon near Petaluma. A shortcut, for us insiders, is just to search under “Petaluma Wetlands” on the Main Map page.

Here is the first part of the text on the Petaluma Wetlands page:

"Less than two miles from downtown Petaluma, California, the Petaluma Wetlands are 500 acres, with trails through or adjacent to a variety of habitats ranging from tidal salt marshes to freshwater marshes. The contiguous wetlands are Alman Marsh, Shollenberger Park and Ellis Creek. To the west a portion of the trail system parallels the Petaluma River and beyond it there are hills clustered with native oaks. To the east lies Sonoma Mountain, once a volcano, millions of years ago.

"200 species of birds have been identified in the wetlands and over 100 plant species. Over 30 species of ducks and geese use the wetlands' food and shelter during the migratory season. Additionally, over 25 species of shorebirds feed in the tidal marshes and around the perimeter of the central seasonal pond at Shollenberger. Immediately across the river from Shollenberger there is a heron/egret colony usually active from April-July. If active, the colony normally has more than 60 nests of Great Egret, Snowy Egret and Great Blue Heron.

"The wetlands provide over seven miles of trails and are used daily by hundreds of people. Individual trails vary in length from 1/3 mile to over 2 miles. They provide a natural experience in what is otherwise an urban setting. Parts of the wetlands are dual purpose. Shollenberger's central pond is used periodically for 'dredge spoils' from the Petaluma River. Ellis Creek opened in mid-2009 as a state-of-the-art water recycling facility and 30 acres serve as polishing wetlands.

"A habitat restoration project is underway removing invasive weeds and introducing native plants. 'Recreational Opportunities' Visitors use the park trails to bird watch, walk dogs, exercise, ride their bikes, eat their lunch or just enjoy a relaxing stroll. Docent-led tours are offered the second Saturday of each month at 9:00 A.M. (Shollenberger entrance) from October-June."

This page has a map that can be expanded to show how to get to the park. I have also added a dozen images. The picture of a Great Egret is alongside the opening text (Figure 1). A recent addition is a map of the wetlands, created by Petaluma Wetlands Docent Ingrid Larnis. It shows all the trails from the Petaluma Sheraton to Ellis Creek, parking areas, and restrooms. Please let your out-of-town friends know about our wonderful wetlands and what they have to offer.

Click here to go to the Petaluma Wetlands page.

Petaluma River Cleanup this Saturday!

2010-05-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 8th
(Plan on showing up around 8:30am to sign up and get refreshments)

9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Petaluma Marina, 781 Baywood Dr.

Join the Petaluma River Cleanup for the 16th Annual Community Spring Cleaning of our Treasured River

Wear gloves & boots: stuff that can get muddy, for land and water based clean-up efforts

Bring your family & friends, watercraft welcome

Help increase community pride. Experience the beauty of the river and learn about wildlife, recreation, and waste disposal. Enjoy an opportunity to conserve the beauty and vitality of our watershed. Become a solution to pollution!

For more information:
Call Bob at: 707-763-5086
Email - Info@PetalumaRiverCleanup.org

Dutra asphalt plant decision pushed back again

2010-04-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

"The May 11 hearing and possible decision on the much-debated Dutra asphalt plant proposal has been delayed to late summer because more studies on the proposal are needed".

Link to Press Democrat article

Response to Dutra's new Shamrock proposal

2010-03-13T10:05:00.000-08:00

Following is our response sent to the Supervisors and PRMD regarding the latest proposal from Dutra to revise their Asphalt Plant project, including their intention to use the Shamrock Landing Way facility for unloading aggregates. This letter describes a series of substantial and significant problems, issues and actions that must be addressed by the County before any further consideration of Dutra's proposal can continue.

The entire file submission is about 500 pages total.

Part 1 - Letter (pdf)

Part 2- Letter & Exhibits A-H (very large pdf)

Part 3 - Exhibits I-J (very large pdf)

Part 4 - Exhibits K-P (very large pdf)

Next Week's Vote Likely Postponed Again

2010-03-10T16:06:00.000-08:00

Dutra is once again asking the County to delay a decision on their proposed asphalt plant. They have asked for a continuance to May 11th and we are hearing it's very likely the Board will grant their request.

Stay tuned!

Dine-Out Fundraiser Tomorrow - Wednesday March 10th!

2010-03-09T10:43:00.000-08:00

Our battle to keep Dutra’s asphalt plant from being built at their very ill-placed location adjacent to our most popular park, schools, neighborhoods, gateway and precious natural resources (wildlife, wetlands, river etc.) continues and we really need your support! An easy and enjoyable way to help would be to join us at our Dine-Out this Wednesday at the scrumptious Central Market located in downtown Petaluma. See below for details. Thanks so much and hope to see you there!

What: Central Market Fundraiser
When: Wed March 10th 5:30pm - 9:30pm
Where: Central Market @ 42 Petaluma Boulevard North, Petaluma, CA 94952

Reservations are strongly suggested.

Please mention Save Shollenberger / Moms For Clean Air when you make your reservations.;

http://www.centralmarketpetaluma.com/

707.778.9900

March 1st proclaimed Petaluma Wetlands Day

2010-03-01T22:13:00.000-08:00

We are so proud of our City and our Mayor for proclaiming March 1st as Petaluma Wetlands Day!

Thank you to all the people and organizations who have helped restore our wetlands and continue to make it a Sustainable Destination

Click here to read the entire Proclamation

Our Petaluma Wetlands have been named a Sustainable Destination by National Geographic! Click here for the National Geographic listing.

Show your Support for Shollenberger!

2010-02-25T15:55:00.000-08:00

March 16th is fast upon us and that’s when the next vote to consider approving the dreaded asphalt plant project will be heard.

We need to make a push RIGHT NOW, rally the community and nail home that we do not want an asphalt plant next to our parks, schools, community and as our welcome mat to Petaluma and Sonoma County.

We can make it really easy for you. All you have to do is say YES, let us know your address and “poof” a lawn sign will appear. If you know of anyone else that might be able to do this please pass this information on to them.

Please let us know if you can help with this. It is a wonderful way to raise awareness and show that the community is united against this awful proposal!

Click here to email us your address and you'll recieve your lawn sign ASAP.

Thank you!

Join our Campaign...Donate Today!

2010-02-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday March 16, 2010 the Sonoma Board of Supervisors will cast their votes on the Dutra Asphalt Plant. Dutra will try to shove this project with its inadequate EIR through to approval with their false claims, doctored maps, and their empty promises of NO smell and NO Health Risk.

Have you ever been near hot asphalt that didn’t smell?

Nesting season in Shollenberger Park starts in March – but will the trees still be there when the herons and egrets return? If approved, Dutra could be sending bulldozers and cut down the Eucalyptus Grove, which is home to the heron and egret nests, the very next day.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

In the spring, just north of Haystack Landing and across the Petaluma River from Shollenberger Park, giant eucalyptus trees stand leafy green but devoid of any apparent life. Several weeks later, from across the river, white spots can be seen in the foliage – Every year since 2003, Great Egrets have nested in the Shollenberger colony. A healthy colony suggests a healthy environment, and the Shollenberger colony has been devoid of predation or major disturbance since its onset. That could change in the near future.

The $25 you spend today will make a difference in this fight to stop the degradation of Shollenberger Park and the entire Petaluma Wetlands Eco-System.

Please donate today:

1) TO FUND LEGAL ACTION AND SAVE THE HERON AND EGRET COLONY.

2) TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN'S LEGACY OF VITAL WETLANDS AND CLEAN AIR FOR YEARS TO COME.

3) TO STOP THE ASPHALT PLANT AT HAYSTACK LANDING.

Dutra’s lies and their improper influence on our elected officials and County Planning Staff have got to stop. We can stop this charade but we need your help. Our wetlands, our Shollenberger Park, our Gateway to Sonoma County will be degraded and polluted with excessive and constant noise, night flood lights, over 46 toxic by-products of asphalt production and the diesel exhaust of over 100,000 trucks a year. Wildlife will be disrupted, air quality worsened, and a voter mandated Scenic View Corridor blighted with the view of two 64 foot storage silos.

Send your support of $25 or more today and help us be ready to stop Dutra. We called them on their deceptive maps presented to the Coast Guard, we showed them mis-locating high pressure PG&E pipes. Now we need to ask the hard questions about their new proposed mooring location. Each new set of claims and maps needs to be met with hard research and questions. Our County Staff doesn't do it, so we have to. If we each send at least $25, we’ll be ready with enough resources to stop Dutra with legal action the very Next Day!

Personal checks are great too! Please send to this address:

The O.W.L Foundation c/o Friends of Shollenberger Park
322 Western Ave.
Petaluma, California 94952

Thank you for your support!

Friends of Shollenberger Park

The Dutra Magic Show

2010-02-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

by David Keller, Petaluma River Council

Most people reading this column have experienced a ‘con’ at a carnival or fair. The Shell Game, or Hide-the-Ball, is one of the most common magic tricks. A ball is hidden under one of three shells or cups, which are then shuffled skillfully by the dealer. The player gambles that they can spot where the ball is hidden.

The dealer’s sleight-of-hand is designed to confuse players, and distractions by shills deflect attention from the tricks being played. A slippery dealer will never let the player find the ball. While the Shell Game looks simple, the con man always wins.

Dutra is playing the Shell Game with us, obscuring the truth about their Asphalt Factory proposal. The Argus Editorial “Keep Petaluma River Traffic Moving” (1/21/10) echoes Dutra’s p.r. game designed to confuse and scare the public into believing that without Dutra, the Coast Guard will shut down our River, all dredging would cease and we’d be inundated by floods.

Instead of trying to find the hidden ball, it’s really time we just stop playing with the con.

Dutra lied to the US Coast Guard and Sonoma County, saying that their barges and tugs would be moored outside the Petaluma River’s federally-dredged navigational channel. Dutra doctored their official maps so that their barges and tugs appear to avoid interfering with current and future commercial and recreational river traffic. The Coast Guard called them out on this fabrication, stating that the remaining channel clearance around a moored barge is not safe.

Dutra claims they’d moor barges for 4 hours to unload aggregates, averaging twice per week. But observations at Shamrock indicate that actual barge unloading time is closer to 8 hours. In letters to the County, Dutra insisted that when they’d operate 24/7 for large government paving jobs (80% of their asphalt business), they’d need to restock raw materials onsite with up to three 4000-ton barges per day, day and night. During those periods, the entire river channel will be blocked and dangerous by maneuvering and anchoring Dutra’s tugs and barges.

Dutra lied again to the US Coast Guard and Sonoma County, saying that two PG&E 12” high-pressure gas transmission pipelines crossing the River go through Shamrock’s parcel upstream, instead of their real location. We discovered that Dutra fabricated their official maps so the pipelines conveniently appear to bypass Dutra’s proposed tug and barge mooring site. However, the pipelines are on Dutra’s property, clearly marked with two 4’x8’ signs reading, “WARNING. DO NOT ANCHOR OR DREDGE. GAS PIPELINE CROSSING. PG&E”. (see: Dutra has a Terminal Gas Problem post below) Perhaps this is why Dutra has refused requests to dredge into their river bank to get their barges and tugs out of the River Channel.

Dutra still claims that dumping of over 200,000 cubic yards of dredge spoils into our Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (over 200 instances) was only minor ‘leakage’, caused by high seas and defective computer-controlled dumps on their barges. But Dutra paid a $735,000 fine to EPA in 2006 for these violations.

Dutra also claims that Miami-Dade County (Florida) inaccurately marked a dredging site in Biscayne Bay, when Dutra was discovered to have destroyed 3.5 acres of federally-protected sea-grass and coral beds. Yet in 2006, after declaring bankruptcy, Dutra’s insurance company paid Miami-Dade County $22.5 Million in compensation.

What’s next? Dutra will morph again to cover their exposed messes. Each time their Shell Game is uncovered, they come up with a new game.

Now, in response to insurmountable problems revealed at their site, Dutra is proposing to locate barge facilities at Shamrock’s property just upstream. Dutra will need a new EIR. Shamrock’s permits and operations must be reviewed closely for its capability to add 125 barges and tugs and over 550,000 tons of aggregates to their existing site.

Let’s stop gambling with Dutra with Shollenberger Park, our health, our River’s safety and wildlife, our tourism, and our community’s investments. Dutra has played Hide-the-Ball games too long about asphalt manufacturing capacity not needed regionally. It’s time for County staff to stop being conned by Dutra’s “magic show.” It’s way past time to end Dutra’s Shell Game, once and for all.

David Keller is a former City Councilman, and founder of the Petaluma River Council.

Dutra has a Terminal Gas Problem

2010-01-31T16:46:00.000-08:00

There are two PG&E 12" High Pressure Gas Transmission Pipelines that cross the Petaluma River in the vicinity of the Dutra Project site. These pipelines cross the Petaluma River and traverse directly through the Dutra Parcel. This location is noted briefly in the Draft Environmental Impact Report, and is verified by PG&E maps (Exhibit 10 below), 4'x8' Warning signs (Exhibits 3; 4; 5), plastic flagging on site, recorded easements (Exhibit 11), and conversations with PG&E personnel.

The actual location of these Gas Pipelines on the Dutra Parcel A conflicts directly with Dutra's proposed mooring location for their barge and tug.

The PG&E Warning signs read: "WARNING. DO NOT ANCHOR OR DREDGE. GAS PIPELINE CROSSING. PG&E 1-(800) 811-4111"

The Draft EIR states:
Dutra Haystack Landing Asphalt & Recycling Facility III. Project Description.
Area A: "Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has a high pressure gas transmission main (450 PSI) that runs under the Petaluma River and through this parcel." (DEIR, Page III-11)

However, once again, as Dutra misrepresented the location of the Federal Dredged Navigational Channel on its displays, the map (Exhibits 2; 8; 9) and photomap exhibits supplied by Dutra to the US Coast Guard, to Sonoma County PRMD and to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors for the purposes of gaining agency permits and environmental approvals are significantly erroneous: they do not match the actual gas transmission pipeline locations on Dutra Parcel A.

Dutra consistently misrepresents the locations, placing the two PG&E Gas Pipelines on the adjacent Shamrock parcel (APN 019-220-15) to the north, instead of their real location crossing Dutra Parcel A.

According to PG&E, these parallel 12" pipelines are the redundant river crossings of a major high pressure gas transmission pipeline that runs from Marin County to Mendocino County. The two pipelines, approximately 60' apart, are joined back together on each shore of the river at a series of valves. On the Shollenberger Park side, these valves are located just landward of the river-bank walking path, and are contained within the center of a semi-circular berm and path easily seen from aerial photos (Exhibit 1; 6). West of the Petaluma River, the valves and pressure regulator are located within a fenced area just past the railroad tracks, directly west of Dutra's Parcel A. (Exhibit 1; 7)

PG&E staff states that the 4'x8' Warning signs on each bank (Dutra and Shollenberger) are centered directly over the buried gas lines, for a total of four highly visible signs facing the Petaluma River. The accuracy of the Warning sign locations is confirmed by more recent survey markings for both pipelines, painted on the paved path behind one sign on the Shollenberger Park location, and with small yellow and black plastic flags on the ground on both sides of both signs on the Dutra parcel.

As a result of Dutra's failure to accurately represent the locations of the two PG&E Gas Transmission Pipelines crossing Dutra Parcel A, and PRMD Staff and Consultant's failure to follow through with any description and analysis of the impacts of the proposed location of a barge and tug mooring facility and materials unloading facilities directly across these Gas Pipelines, the validity, feasibility and accuracy of the FEIR and this critical Petaluma River-based transportation component of Dutra's proposed Asphalt Plant is in serious doubt.

Exhibits (all PDF documents):

1. Aerial Map: locations of 4’x8’ PG&E ‘Warning’ Signs and 12” High pressure Gas Transmission Pipelines.

2. Corrected Map, Dutra Haystack Landing Asphalt Plant, Barge and Tug Mooring Site Plan.

3. PG&E ‘Warning’ Sign

4. PG&E High Pressure Gas Transmission Pipeline 4’x8’ ‘Warning’ Signs. View from Shollenberger Park

5. PG&E 4’x8’ ‘Warning’ Signs, located on Dutra Parcel A.

6. PG&E Gas Transmission Pipeline Valves, located on Shollenberger Park

7. PG&E Gas Transmission Pipeline Valves and Pressure Regulator, west of Dutra Parcel A and Railroad right-of-way.

8. Erroneous Photomap supplied to US Coast Guard by Dutra. “107’ Clearance map”

9. Erroneous Photomap supplied to US Coast Guard by Dutra. EX 14, 10/5/09

10. PG&E Gas Distribution Map #2769-H1

11. PG&E Recorded Easement, changing location of right of way and easement, APN 19-220-01, 6/22/93.

Press Democrat: High time for county to reject Dutra project

2010-01-27T12:52:00.000-08:00

By HEIDI RHYMES
Published: Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Shollenberger Park in Petaluma is a park, not an industrial site. This city park is a rich and productive historic wetland area restored to support wetland species and to filter impaired water going to San Francisco Bay. It serves a dual purpose of providing an area for dredged river sediments.

Does this fortunate and rare symbiotic relationship between humankind and the environment imply we should add more heavy industry, pollution, noise and visual blight to this valued resource? Should we forsake its worth as a recreational resource, tourist magnet and wildlife habitat for supposedly cheaper asphalt?

Reestablishing wetlands takes money, commitment and vision. Our city, Open Space District and state have invested more than $4 million and 15 years into this valued community resource.

The Petaluma River will be dredged without the Dutra asphalt plant.

Click here to read the entire article

Show support for our City Council!

2010-01-25T15:38:00.000-08:00

We have a city council majority which is under attack for actively protecting the city and our community against development interests who are not willing to abide by the City or County General Plan protection and guidance, who don't want close public examination of major project impacts, and who aren't really interested in finding ways to have economic development without selling out the town and our local treasures.

The Argus' editorial stance over the past year reflects the anti-council sentiment fostered by these large developers' lobbyists. The efforts to shortcut public participation and city review of plans, including Dutra and Regency's mall, are what is driving the anti-incumbent campaign.

Please go to the Argus Poll and let them know what you think of shortcutting the public reviews.

* Online Poll has ended * thanks to those of you that contributed!

The Emperor Dutra Has No Clothes

2010-01-05T17:16:00.000-08:00

For some unknown reason, the Board of Supervisors has given Dutra yet another gift of time to paper over these latest fatal problems with their Asphalt Plant proposal, and postponed the public hearing to March 16th. Isn't it time for an up or down vote on Dutra's seriously flawed project, and spare us more months of having to get through the Dutra Fog?

Now that Dutra spent the past year convincing the County to rely on their word and to ask the USCG to confirm Dutra's assertion that their barge and tug mooring plan was safe and didn't block the River's other commercial and recreational traffic, Dutra doesn't like the answer the USCG came up with after making a thorough review. Dutra submitted maps that moved the notations for the Navigable Channel location so that their barge and tug appeared miraculously out of the navigable channel, but USCG found out that Dutra's maps were "inappropriately" wrong, and got to the truth of the problems of Dutra's proposal. Now, Dutra is still are lobbying USCG to reverse this latest letter, claiming that the USCG is wrong. What will Dutra invent next?

Following is the documentation in this case:

Letter submitted to USCG on 12/30/09 in response to USCG's letter advising navigational safety and interference issues on the Petaluma River for Dutra's proposed barge and tug landing site.

The Dec. 29th USCG Final Determination Letter

2 photomaps submitted by Dutra to USCG with the erroneous location for the Navigational Channel: One & Two

The Site Plan submitted to the County with the correct Navigational Channel location

The above photo is of a Dutra barge and tug going past the Shollenberger Fishing/Observation pier showing just how narrow this portion of the river is, and why the federal narrow channel rules against mooring or anchoring in the Navigable Channel apply in this location.

Coast Guard Determines Dutra Plant Would Create A Navigational Hazard

2009-12-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

We've just received word that the US Coast Guard has revised their previous determination and now state the following:

"After further review we have determined that your drawing EX 14 dated October 5th, 2009, inappropriately indicates the eastern bank of the river as the edge of the navigational channel. Based on the new information...your facility will create a navigational hazard to other users of the channel. The moored barge or barges as proposed would result in a violation of the federal anchorage regulations."

This image is the same one posted on Dutra's website.

Click here to read the entire letter (PDF)

Happy New Year!

Community Opposition to Asphalt Plant Grows per Public Survey

2009-12-10T11:28:00.000-08:00

Following are the results of the most recent public survey of the proposed Dutra asphalt plant at Haystack Landing. Opposition to the proposal has grown more than 11% over the past year.

85.4% think the modified proposal for an asphalt plant should be denied.
12.10.09

On 1.29.09, 73.8% thought the initial proposal for an asphalt plant should be denied.

Source: Pulse of Petaluma survey, Petaluma360.com

Click here for more Citizen Videos!

Coast Guard prompts postponement of Tuesday Hearing

2009-12-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

The Coast Guard has submitted a letter to the Supervisors asking to investigate Dutra's proposed barge off-load facility at Haystack Landing further. This has prompted the postponement of Tuesday's hearing. New date: Tuesday January 12th.

More detail to follow shortly.

TUESDAY HEARING POSTPONED! Carrillo still undecided?

2009-12-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

COME ONE COME ALL! Swing vote Efren Carrillo wants to hear what the public have to say about the Dutra asphalt plant this Tuesday!

Carrillo said Friday he wouldn't deliver an opinion on Dutra's revised proposal until he's heard what the company and the public have to say Tuesday.

"There are still questions to be asked on the project and that's what Tuesday's hearing lends itself to," he said.

Read Press Democrat story here

Join us and express your feelings about an asphalt plant being located next to an environmental asset, Shollenberger Park and the adjacent wetlands that citizens of the County and visitors alike have a right to enjoy.

RSVP HERE ON FACEBOOK

RSVP HERE VIA EMAIL

Energy-Raiser Event, Sunday 12/6 JOIN US!

2009-12-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

The FINAL Supervisors Hearing on the Dutra Asphalt Plant proposal is Tuesday December 8th! It is crucial for the community to turn out in large numbers to stand up for our environment and against this project.

In preparation for the final hearing, we are having an Energy-Raiser Event on Sunday December 6th, from 4-6pm.

Join us at our Headquarters for exhilarating music, delicious food, inspiring conversation and short informational talks by those leading this grass roots fight!

Click here to RSVP on Facebook

Click here to RSVP via Email

Sunday, December 6th: 4-6pm
Save Shollenberger Headquarters
322 Western Avenue, Petaluma
Click here for directions

Our musical guest for the event will be the wonderful Larry Potts:

Local Businesses & Property Owners Oppose Dutra Asphalt Plant

2009-12-02T23:08:00.000-08:00

R N M properties owns and manages more than 1.5 million square feet of high quality office and retail space in San Francisco, Santa Clara and Sonoma Counties. With additional land holdings that will accommodate another 830,000 square feet of office, hotel or retail space, RNM Properties is prepared to develop and manage real estate projects in prime Northern California locations for progressive and growing companies doing business in a wide variety of industries.

"On behalf of RNM Properties, I write to add my voice to those who oppose the siting of the Dutra plant on the Petaluma River. While I can appreciate the site’s attractiveness to Dutra, I perceive very marginal economic benefit to the county or to Petaluma. To undermine this unique wetlands ecosystem for such a use seems misguided and short-sighted. Our firm accomodates many businesses located in close proximity to the wetlands preserve. One of the main draws for these companies is the opportunity for their employees to enjoy Shollenberger Park. The noise and other impacts of this project will compromise the bucolic setting and be a detriment to a cohort of valuable corporate citizens."

Paul B. Elmore
President
R N M properties

NEW PUBLIC SURVEY ON DUTRA PLANT: TIME SENSITIVE - VOTE NOW!!

2009-12-02T19:19:00.000-08:00

This is a new survey by the Argus about the so-called "revised" Dutra Asphalt factory at Shollenberger Park and the River. It's no doubt intended for print next week, if not tomorrow (Thursday).

CLICK HERE AND VOTE!!

or cut and paste the link into your browser:

http://www.petaluma360.com/section/community0104

Tell your friends and neighbors too! Dutra will try to make it look like all of Petaluma likes their 'new' plant - unless we speak up.

HELP SAVE YOUR PARK

2009-12-01T00:16:00.000-08:00

To our Visitors and Tourists from Near and Far:

Dutra Materials wants to build an asphalt plant on the banks of the Petaluma River and 350 ft. from the walking paths of Shollenberger Park. The Petaluma City Council and our Mayor are unanimously opposed to this project!

Additionally, a recent poll showed 84.5% of the citizen respondents are also opposed. Yet three of the five County Supervisors are inclined to vote to permit this factory to be located in this Voter Mandated Scenic View Corridor. You can help protect this scenic wildlife preserve and wetlands by sending them your letter, stating how you value wetlands and scenic beauty and that this translates into longterm economic vitality for Sonoma County. (See template below).

Contact the Supervisors and Tell Them to Vote NO! The final vote is January 12th!!

Here is a standard letter script you can use if you'd like. We encourage you to expand it and make it personal.

Dear Supervisors,

I am often a visitor to beautiful natural destinations and Sonoma County is one of them. I'm writing to ask you to preserve and protect Sonoma County's wetlands by voting NO on the Dutra Asphalt Plant proposal at Haystack Landing. I plan to visit Sonoma County because of its natural beauty and commitment to a healthy environment. Please vote NO on the Dutra Asphalt Plant and you can be sure many tourists will thank you and will visit Shollenberger Park and Sonoma County.

Sincerely,

Click Here to Contact the Supervisors

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please Also Review The Links to the Right

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Visit and Support Petaluma Wetlands

The Petaluma Wetlands Alliance (PWA), a committee of Madrone Audubon, is dedicated to the creation, restoration and stewardship of publicly accessible wetlands and wildlife habitats. We support Shollenberger Park, Alman Marsh, the new wastewater treatment property, and future wetland sites in the watershed. PWA works with local governments, environmental organizations and other groups to educate the public about the ecology and value of wetlands.

Click Here to Visit the PWA Website

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Dutra and the Petaluma Wetlands

2009-11-30T09:44:00.000-08:00

The $32 billion that birders spent generated $85 billion in economic benefits for the nation in 2001. This ripple effect on the economy also produced $13 billion in tax revenues and 863,406 jobs.

-U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Birding in the United States, 2003

Last summer the Ellis Creek trail was opened to the public. Now one can walk over seven miles of trails in the Petaluma Public Wetlands. The contiguous wetlands have much to offer – 200 species of birds, 25 of mammals, reptiles and amphibians and over 100 types of plants. The Greenbelt Alliance and San Francisco Chronicle have described it as a top destination for nature lovers. The study cited above says there are 46 million birders in the U.S. and almost 4 million in California. Petaluma plans to start promoting eco- tourism to the area. Starting next January a part of the National Geographic website on California’s Redwood Coast will feature a section on our local wetlands, for example.

The success of any promotional effort will depend upon maintaining the purity of the 500 acres from harmful development, such as the proposed Dutra plant which would be across the Petaluma River from the heart of the wetlands, Shollenberger Park. That operation would impact scenic vistas, generate pollution, noise and potentially devastate a heron/egret colony on the Dutra property.

According to a 2008 census, on an average day over 400 people (mostly local residents) walk the Shollenberger trail, amounting to some 150,000 day-trips a year. Visitors use the park to bird watch, exercise, ride their bikes, walk dogs or just enjoy a relaxing stroll in a natural surrounding. The level of carcinogens that would be released by the plant will certainly give pause to those who now use the park trails. Anyone with respiratory problems (asthma, etc.) most surely would have to forego walking there.

Every spring park docents escort hundreds of local elementary school children to the fishing pier at Shollenberger across from the proposed Dutra barging operation, to view the heron/egret colony (which produced over 70 chicks in 2009). A healthy colony reflects a healthy environment. The Dutra operation’s noise at that location would exceed the General Plan standard and require its amendment because of this serious problem. It would probably mean that docents will cancel this important part of the children’s learning experience because of the noise and fear of auditory harm.

The colony may no longer be there in any case. The excessive noise and other aspects of the proposed operation, including 100,000 annual truck trips in and out of the site would result in a “substantial risk of colony abandonment” per Dr. John Kelly, Audubon Canyon ranch, the leading expert on colony management in Northern California:

…these birds are apparently most sensitive to changes in human activity…loud noises might disturb a colony if the noise levels are increased dramatically or are associated with new or unpredictable human activities. Noise per se may not cause disturbance if the birds associate the noise with normal conditions under which the nesting sites were selected. [His emphasis.]
~ Analysis submitted to Steve Dee, Sonoma County, February 24, 2008

Bob Dyer

Senior Docent

Supervisor Carrillo is the Swing Vote!

2009-11-24T12:14:00.000-08:00

Attention West County Voters – Sonoma County Citizens!

We need your help to save our Wetlands from the toxic pollution of an asphalt plant.

Supervisor Efren Carrillo, District 5 (including Sebastopol), will cast the crucial vote on the Dutra Asphalt Plant. With Supervisors Zane and Brown on record as “NO” votes and Supervisors Kelly and Kerns on record as sure “Yes” votes, Efren’s vote determines what happens to Petaluma and the county’s wetlands, located in the 2nd District.

We need West County voters to write and call Efren Carrillo and remind him the West County voter wants the wetlands protected. A Super-majority of Sonoma County voters voted to keep the Scenic View Corridor protected in 1998. When asked, Sonoma County voters voices are strong- keep Sonoma County Green! Please call, write and email Supervisor Carrillo and let him know, as a voter in Sonoma county, how you feel about this plant.

Below is a suggested correspondence you can use.

Click here to Email Efren

ecarrillo@sonoma-county.org

Letters:
County of Sonoma Board of Supervisors
575 Administration Drive, Room 100A
Santa Rosa, CA 95403

Phone: (707) 565-2241

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Supervisor Carrillo:

I am a West County / Sonoma County voter and I ask you to vote to protect one of our County's finest assets, the wetlands and wildlife habitat of Shollenberger Park. Vote "NO" to approving the Dutra Asphalt Plant.

Don't spread pollution - clean it up. Shollenberger Park, Alman Marsh wetlands and adjacent Ellis Creek Polishing Ponds are the last of a precious resource, a high elevation salt marsh. Our Open Space tax-dollars have paid to acquire and protect these lands and an asphalt plant is incompatible with these goals.

Don't destroy what we have restored. Don't increase air pollution and associated cancers. Instead work towards reducing air contaminants produced by existing asphalt plants and reducing illness in Sonoma County by protecting the environment.

When asked, the Sonoma County Voter votes green by a Super Majority: 1998 Measure D Voter Mandated Scenic View Corridor, Open Space District Funding, Smart Rail, Community Separators and Urban Growth Boundaries. Don't ignore the mandate of the West County voter who passed Measure D to protect the Scenic View Corridor south of Petaluma.

I will remember how you vote. Vote NO on the Dutra Asphalt Plant.

Sincerely,

Pick Up Signs & Stickers This Week!

2009-11-23T12:32:00.000-08:00

FLASH! EASY ACCESS TO SIGNS AND BUMPER STICKERS TO SAVE OUR PARK

Pick up a Lawn Sign and Bumper Sticker at The Mail Depot. Maureen and her wonderful staff will hand out signs for one week starting today.

Mail Depot Hours:

MON - THURS 8am to 6pm

FRI 8am - 5pm

SAT 9am to 3pm

40 Fourth St.

(near Bus Stop)

Petaluma

Supervisors need to hold firm in opposing asphalt plant

2009-11-21T12:54:00.000-08:00

Petaluma resident Bill Kortum, a former Sonoma County Supervisor and former chairman of the California Coastal Alliance, is chairman emeritus of Sonoma County Conservation Action and explains to the Press Democrat why having an asphalt plant across the Petaluma River from Shollenberger Park is a bad idea.

"The visual, noise, smell, toxic air and other asphalt plant impacts on Shollenberger Park are very real to residents of Petaluma. The proposed Dutra assault on voter-mandated protections and community values would cause consternation by any city of our county. Even London now requires asphalt plants to be located 20 miles from city limit lines.

The EIR finds regional asphalt plant capacity more than adequate, so why should the county accommodate a company with such a history of violations in our voter-mandated scenic corridor? "

Click here to read the entire article

PLAN FOR STRAW VOTE AND LAST COMMENT 12/8

2009-11-19T22:52:00.000-08:00

SUPERVISORS' PLAN TO TAKE STRAW VOTE AND HEAR LAST PUBLIC COMMENT ON DECEMBER 8th

It appears Paul Kelley, Chair of the Board of Supervisors, is intending to conduct yet another straw vote on the Dutra Asphalt plant proposal on December 8th. Supervisor Valerie Brown, who is on record against the Dutra proposal, cannot be present on the 8th and has apparently received a commitment from Mr. Kelly that a final vote will not happen on that date. It also appears obvious that the pro-Dutra strategy is for Supervisor Kelley to use the Straw vote hearing to close public comment on the "revised" proposal, and then put Dutra on a Consent Calendar vote in January. He tried this earlier this year, but public outcry and right to speak stopped this tactic. Those in favor of Dutra’s proposal would like to close the record and end public comment on the vague "revised" project description as soon as possible, however the facts still remain:

1) The revised project is still a polluting industrial factory located in a protected Scenic View Corridor and next to a sensitive wildlife and wetlands habitat. Approval would still require a zoning change from commercial, agricultural and scenic to industrial. No overriding benefit to the residents has been proven to support re-zoning.

2) Noise of barge unloading still exceeds General Plan decibel limits and would require a General Plan Amendment for excessive noise.

3) The seven story towers (62 ft.) are still significant blight on the area and a noxious landmark for the Gateway to Sonoma County and Petaluma.

4) The project still adds air pollution of the area and the new calculation of 6.7 additional cancers per million exceeds CEQA's level of significance of 5. It is unhealthy and will cause illness.

5) Truck traffic will be constant, every 3 minutes, and the Petaluma 101 South Interchange will be dominated by Dutra traffic. By their own estimates 100,000 trucks per year coming in and out of the Dutra site at Haystack landing will occur.

Help us stop this proposal. It appears a final decision will occur in the very near future. Time is of the essence!

New Signs & Bumper Stickers Now Available!

2009-10-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

New Save Shollenberger signs and bumper stickers will be available for pick up this Saturday (10/31) from 10am-2pm at our Headquarters. The first 50 bumper stickers and 20 signs are FREE!

322 Western Ave.
Petaluma, CA

The Dutra proposal is likely to return to the Board of Supervisors in December, so it is vital that we begin to once again grow community awareness and return this issue to the forefront of Sonoma County consciousness. The large majority of Petaluma residents are against this Asphalt plant, as well as the entire Petaluma City Council and 5 other Sonoma County cities…but it could come down to the vote of one individual on the Board of Supervisors.

Don’t let this decision be made for us. Stand up and speak your mind. Please stop by on Saturday and help us spread the word.

Trick or Treat!

Marin Supervisors approve quarry's environmental impact report

2009-10-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

Share your opinion! Click here to participate in the poll asking whether this quarry is a threat to public health.

Medical experts disagreed over the health effects of continued mining at the San Rafael Rock Quarry during a key public hearing on the quarry Tuesday. More than 300 people attended the three-hour hearing at the Civic Center, where county supervisors voted unanimously to certify as adequate and complete an environmental impact report submitted by the Dutra Group to continue operations at the quarry for least another 17 years.

The Dutra Group wants to dig the pit twice as deep as the 200 feet below sea level allowed by a 1982 permit, and continue operations for another 17 years with 250 truck trips daily.

Read the article here

TRUCKS OR DUCKS?? IT'S UP TO US!

2009-10-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

New Printable Petition

We need your help to collect names & emails for Sonoma County residents opposed to the Dutra Asphalt Plant at Haystack Landing. Please collect contact information for folks in your community and forward the lists to us at our office:

Friends of Shollenberger Park
322 Western Ave
Petaluma, CA 94952

Or scan and email to us at SaveShollenberger at gmail.com

We are hearing that the new Dutra proposal will go in front of the County Supervisors in early December...so time is of the essence! Thanks!!

Tolay Regional Park Opening Ceremony this Saturday

2009-10-06T23:52:00.000-07:00

Sonoma County Regional Parks is pleased to announce the kickoff of expanded public access at Tolay Lake Regional Park. To mark the expanded access, Regional Parks is also planning a celebration on Saturday, October 10 at 10:00 am to thank the community members who helped in developing the access plan and acknowledge the acquisition partners and park neighbors. Guest speakers include 2nd District County Supervisor Mike Kerns and Regional Parks Director Mary Burns.

Click here for directions to Tolay Lake Regional Park (PDF)

Click here to RSVP to attend on Facebook

Parking Free to those attending the Ceremonies. Be there by 9:30 to get a good position. We need volunteers to hold up our BIG sign and give Supervisor MIKE KERNS and all attendees our message: NO ASPHALT PLANT AT HAYSTACK LANDING - SAVE OUR PARK.

Please e-mail us if you can commit to coming to Tolay on SAT morning to assist us. Please be able to arrive by 9:30 am.

Dutra's Track Record - History in Miami, Florida

2009-10-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

In 1994 Dutra Construction Co. began contracted work with the Port of Miami, dredging a section of the shipping channel in Biscayne Bay, a “shallow subtropical lagoon with diverse habitat including mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs. Manatees, crocodiles, sea turtles, and many important fish species also share the immediate marine environment with the port.”1 This “rich marine habitat”1 was severely damaged by Dutra’s illegal dredging and destruction of “3.5 acres of seagrass outside of the permitted dredging area.”2 “in violation of county, state, and federal laws.”3 “This is the largest unauthorized sea-grass-destruction case ever investigated by DERM [Miami-Dade Department of Environmental Resources Management],” declared biologist Craig Grossenbacher, chief of DERM's coastal resources section. “At the very least there was gross negligence.”3 Grossenbacher also stated that “We now know this illegal dredging occurred between 1995 and 1997.”3 “To make matters worse, the excavation, funded by taxpayers, led to illegal dumping of the coral rock and dredge materials.”2 In 1997 Dutra stopped work and filed for bankruptcy.3

“Later that year Lunetta [the Port of Miami Director] resigned amid a federal investigation charging him and two businessmen at the port with embezzlement, fraud, and theft of funds. But before he left, Lunetta approved $9.9 million in payments to Dutra for work it never completed.”3 “Dutra workers returned to the channel in January of [1999] after the county made a deal with Safeco, a company that had insured the dredging project. Safeco agreed to finance a resumption of the dredging and to reimburse the port for the $9.9 million Dutra had overbilled.”3

It was in February of 1999 that DERM discovered the illegal dredging in Biscayne Bay and the “eighteen mysterious piles of coral rock on the ocean bottom”3 illegally dumped outside the federally authorized offshore disposal site. “In April 1999 DERM issued violation notices to Dutra chairman Bill Dutra, port director Charles Towsley, and Luis Ajamil of Bermello Ajamil and Partners (B&A),”3 the engineers of record. In mid-1999 Dutra “pulled out of the job, saying its arsenal could not compete with the resilience of coral rock,”3 despite the fact that they had previously “removed several football fields worth of seagrass and coral rock”1 illegally.

The illegal dredging led to a lawsuit: Miami-Dade County v. Safeco Insurance Company, Bill Dutra, Harry K. Stewart and George W. Gilfillan which alleged civil fraud and breach of contract.5 In this case, ‘No.: 98-17437 CA 20 United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida”5, tried in the Miami-Dade Circuit Court, the County sought $40 million in damages and settled for $22.5 million.6

The damage to Biscayne Bay cannot be directly mitigated because “the water was 2 to 5 feet deep where the sea grass was destroyed, now the area is 30 feet deep - unsuitable for sea grass.” 4 Therefore, the settlement money will be used for other environmental projects, including mitigating “62.5 acres with red mangroves within the Oleta River State Park, North Miami.”2

References & Article Links:

1: Harboring Pollution. The dirty truth about US Ports, NRDC and Coalition for Clean Air, March 2004 (PDF)

2: Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners Agenda Notes March 4, 2008 (PDF)

3: “A Hole So Foul” By Kirk Nielsen, Miami New Times, Sept. 7, 2000

4: Miami Group, Sierra Club Conservation Archives: 2000 “Port of Miami Violations” Editorial by Nancy Lee

5: Website of AFC Group, Litigation and Valuation Advisory Services

6: Miami-Dade settles longstanding law suit over botched dredging project, Dredging News Online - January 30, 2006

A Chronology of Dutra Construction Co., Inc. in the Port of Miami, Florida

Date
1994
Dutra dredging begins in the channel where DERM had approved deepening a section of the shipping channel in Biscayne Bay in the Port of Miami.

1995-97
Dutra “unlawfully scooped out several football fields' worth of seagrass and several tons of the bay's coral-rock floor below the seagrass.”

Jan. 1997
Dutra stops work and files for bankruptcy.

Jan. 1999
Dutra returns to work in the channel after the County made a deal with Safeco, the insurance company for Dutra; Safeco agreed to finance the resumption of work and to reimburse the port for the $9.9 million Dutra had overbilled.

Feb.1999
Biologist Craig Grossenbacher of Miami-Dade Department of Environmental Resources Management (DERM) discovers illegal dredging in Biscayne Bay. DERM had approved deepening, not widening, a section of the shipping channel.
Illegal dumping is also discovered.

Apr. 1999
DERM issues violation notices to Dutra chairman Bill Dutra, port director Charles Towsley, and Luis Ajamil of Bermello Ajamil and Partners (B&A).

mid-1999
Dutra stops work.
Miami-Dade County v. Safeco Insurance Company, Bill Dutra, Harry K. Stewart and George W. Gilfillan. Action: Civil fraud, Breach of contract. Case No.: 98-17437 CA 20 United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The County sought $40 million in damages.

Jan. 2006
Settlement reached for $22.5 million between the County and Safeco

Mar. 2008
Contract awarded to another company to “mitigate 62.5 acres with red mangroves within the Oleta River State Park” in North Miami, using a portion of the Safeco settlement.
“This project was necessitated by damage caused by the County’s dredging company, Dutra Construction Co., Inc., which impacted 3.5 acres of seagrass outside of the permitted dredging area.”

Experience Shollenberger and Help the Community

2009-08-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

The Carousel Fund Run/Walk will be a great way to show off the 171 acres of Petaluma's newly restored wetlands including the new Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility and Shollenberger Park. It is a small charge of $10.00 per person or $25.00 per family for the event. 100% of the entry fees go directly to the Carousel Fund.

DATE
September 27, 2009, 8:30am start

LOCATION AND PARKING
Race starts and finishes at the Ellis Creek entrance at 3890 Cypress Drive. Parking is limited, so please arrive early to allow time to find a spot.

START TIMES
Registration & Check-in: 7:30—8:15am
Both races start at 8:30am
Awards ceremony will begin after 10K race concludes

BENEFICIARY
100% of race entry fees go directly to the Carousel Fund. The Carousel Fund is an all volunteer organization dedicated to assisting Petaluma families with children who suffer from catastrophic illnesses.

DIVISIONS AND AWARDS
•10K Awards: Medals to top three males and females. Ribbons for age groups M & F : 0-12, 13-18, 19-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70+
•5K Awards: Medals to top three males and females.
•Participation ribbons for children.

REGISTRATION & CHECK-IN
Save money and time by registering early - in store at Athletic Soles in downtown Petaluma, or by mailing this registration form by September 23rd. Race day registration: 7:30—8:15am. On facebook? Confirm your attendance and support here!

Click here for a PDF flyer which includes registration information

Sights & Sounds From An Asphalt Plant

2009-08-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

Mowing Experience at Shollenberger

2009-08-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

As more and more people learn about the invaluable restoration of the varied marsh habitats at Shollenberger Park, we are finding that even the City of Petaluma's Water Department maintenance staff has much to learn. Over the past 25 years, maintenance crews around the globe are re-learning how to provide for fire, weed, safety, road and flood management without damaging the existing important wildlife habitat along creeks, marshes, forests and waterfronts. So, this learning starts at home. Recent mowing of trail berms by Water Dept. staff has now become a "teachable moment" as acknowledged by the City.

We are encouraged by the City's response and look forward to management practices for next year and years to come that meet the multiple objectives needed in such an important and complex project.

Photo by Gerald Moore

Help Stop This From Happening

2009-08-04T16:58:00.000-07:00

If we don't stop the Dutra Group from building this plant, this will be everyone's "welcome" to Petaluma and Sonoma County.

“As previously mentioned, the entire area surrounding the project site west of Highway 101 is designated with a Scenic Resource zoning overlay. Application of the Visual Assessment Guidelines indicates that development of the project site would result in visual dominance of the area, which in combination with the high sensitivity assessment, would result in a significant impact to visual resources.”

~ Dutra Environmental Impact Report
(Vol. 1, V.A. Aesthetics pg. 25)

Please explore the links to the right for ways to help stop this plant from happening.

Help Save This Remarkable Park

2009-08-03T22:51:00.000-07:00

Join Us to Celebrate the Completion of the Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility

2009-07-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

"Using a combination of treatment methods, including ultraviolet rays and natural wetlands, the plant will produce more than 464 million gallons of recycled water a year — enough to offset the water use of 1,400 single-family homes, the city said."

Ellis Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant Trails link with Shollenberger Park's Trails and will together provide approximately 8 miles of walking paths through the wetlands and along ponds. Ellis Creek and Shollenberger Park are linked together ecologically, physically and financially. The 500+ acres of Shollenberger, Alman Marsh and Ellis Creek were acquired and restored with a pooling of resources for protection of this wildlife habitat by the City of Petaluma, The Coastal , Conservancy and the Open Space District. Your tax dollars at work.

The proposed Dutra asphalt plant on the banks of the Petaluma River, just across from Shollenbreger Park, would degrade and pollute the wetlands, marshes and wildlife sanctuary with toxic by-products of asphalt production and diesel exhaust, excessive noise, toxic storm water runoff, and a disturbing industrial presence. Visitors to this special area could be exposed to significant health risks, and damage to wildlife and habitat could be devastating.

Preserve and protect this environment for almost 200 species of birds, 150,000 visitors a year, and defend our tax dollar investment already made to create this international birding destination. Donate today to help fund our fight to defeat the approval of the Dutra Apshalt Plant.

Join us at the Completion Ceremony!

RSVP to Denise Hill at 707.778-4584 or by e-mail at dhill@ci.petaluma.ca.us

RSVP on Facebook

Read the entire article on Petaluma 360

DUTRA VOTE DELAYED AGAIN BY SUPERVISORS KELLEY, KERNS, AND CARRILLO

2009-07-22T00:07:00.000-07:00

Shirlee Zane and Valerie Brown were each strong and determined in their voice voting to deny the Dutra asphalt project, however Efren Carrillo switched sides and voted to allow the project to live for another day.

EMAIL EFREN AND LET HIM KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS

CONTACT EFREN ON HIS FACEBOOK PAGE FOR AN EXPLANATION

Dutra's concessions do nothing to answer the jurisdictional issue of whether County Supervisors have the right to re-zone, to industrial use, the parcels located in a voter mandated scenic view corridor. Only the voters can change this zoning designation. Lowering the production capacity of the plant lessens, but does not eliminate the toxic impacts of this asphalt production facility on a wildlife preserve, 22 schools, hundreds of residences, and 150,000 visitors (and growing) to Shollenberger park per year. Foregoing the recycling part of production still leaves recycled tires (used for rubberized asphalt) in piles on the property. Excessive noise is still created at the barge unloading site and will still require amending the General Plan to allow Dutra to exceed the county noise limits.

So what does Dutra gain and why does Supervisor Carrillo want to reconsider his NO straw vote of June 9th? Dutra gains time to wear out the community's opposition. But they underestimate our staying power - For Friends of Shollenberger and all of the other Environmental and Community organizations this isn't about profits, it’s about future generations. With that long view, we will never stop fighting to preserve and protect Shollenberger Park. There is no compromise possible with a company whose environmental record is as worrisome as Dutra's.

We hope Supervisor Carrillo will reject the project at the next “Final Vote”, knowing that he went the extra mile for the applicant and its supporters in the construction and aggregate industries, but voting to reflect the wishes of his 5th District.

JOIN US TUESDAY 7/21 AT 1PM!

2009-07-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends of Shollenberger Park,

This Tuesday, July 21st at 2:00 PM (please arrive at 1pm) the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors will cast their final vote for or against the Dutra Company building an asphalt plant across from Shollenberger Park.

RSVP AT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE

At the last meeting three supervisors expressed, in a straw vote, their opposition to the plant while two for it. They could not vote it down at that time because this balance was unexpected and they did not have a resolution of denial prepared, which is apparently needed for a final no vote.

On Tuesday they will have two resolutions prepared, one to approve the project, and one to deny it. Despite their most recent straw vote opposing the asphalt plant, we are very concerned that one of the tentative no-voters will change their mind and vote for the project. Therefore, it is very important we see a turn out in huge numbers to ensure that no one on the County board decide to change their vote. Please give us one final push in defeating this project, which is the wrong plant in the wrong place...run by the wrong company.

Please join us at the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors chambers at 575 Administration Drive, Room 100A in Santa Rosa this Tuesday and help sway the vote with your presence. Plan to arrive by 1PM so you can secure a spot in the chamber.

Interested in carpooling? Meet us at our headquarters at Noon on Tuesday. HQ located at 322 Western Ave., in Petaluma.

See you there!!

The Making of our Group Photo

2009-07-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

We are extremely excited to bring you "The Making of the Save Shollenberger Group Photo" starring Scott Hess (and us all!) Thanks Scott!!

Spanish Outreach Materials

2009-07-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

Sincere gratitude goes out to Israel Escudero, Joe Peer and Frank, Anna and Elia Solar for their assistance in creating this remarkable Spanish language PSA:

A very special thanks again to Israel Escudero for putting these documents together!

Document #1

Document #2

Document #3

A Hole So Foul

2009-07-13T23:13:00.000-07:00

"Dutra Construction, a California-based dredging company, had unlawfully scooped out several football fields' worth of sea grass and several tons of the bay's coral-rock floor below the grass."

Click here to read the entire article.

"Somehow no one noticed that a monstrous gash was illegally being dug into the bottom of Biscayne Bay...This is the largest unauthorized sea-grass-destruction case ever investigated by DERM,” declares Grossenbacher, chief of DERM's coastal resources section."

More info:

Port of Miami Violations

Former Port Director Under Fire

Former Port Director Helped Broke Firm Get Paid

Join us for a Round-Up of Gratitude - 7/16!

2009-07-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

Round-up of Gratitude!!

Join us at Vine and Barrel Wine Shop July 16th, 6pm-8pm for a glass (or 2) of wine, tasty snacks, live music and good company!

We are gathering together to celebrate Shollenberger Park, Petaluma's clean air and to thank all of our supporters before the final, final, FINAL vote.

Music by: “The Clean Air Duo” featuring Todd Bugbee and Nate Lopez $5 per glass charge; free yummy snacks

CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

Please come down and show your support against the proposed Dutra asphalt plant.

WINE + FOOD + LIVE MUSIC = GOOD TIMES!

Thanks to the Moms for Clean Air for organizing this event.

This is the Face of The Community

2009-06-30T21:22:00.001-07:00

We represent all ages from all walks of life. We're united to ensure a healthy community and the preservation of our environment. Thank you to everyone that has stood up for future generations health and recreation.

Please don't stop until the final vote on July 21st!

New Outreach Documents:

Ensure we Hold The Vote by distributing this flyer to our entire community (pdf)

Can we depend on Dutra? Their national record of violations, fines, and a Marin County Grand Jury investigation tell us that they are not a “good neighbor.” Click here to help spread the word! (pdf)

Continue to Send Letters to the Press:

Click here for a list of Sonoma County Media

Help Protect Petaluma's Ecotourism

2009-06-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

PETALUMA WETLANDS
A BIRDER’S DREAM

At the end of July, the new Ellis Creek trail will be opened to the public, adding over two miles to an existing trail system in the Petaluma wetlands that includes strolls through Alman Marsh, and around Shollenberger Park. One will be able to walk almost eight miles (roundtrip) starting at the Sheraton Hotel located at the Petaluma Marina. This will only enhance what many (Greenbelt Alliance, S.F. Chronicle, etc.) have already described as a top destination for nature lovers.

The 500-acre contiguous wetlands, left unspoiled, have much to offer - 200 species of birds, 25 species of mammals, reptiles and amphibians, over 100 types of plants, with trails that meander through or are adjacent to a variety of habitats ranging from seasonal ponds, uplands, to salt marshes. At points in the trail one walks alongside the Petaluma River. The headquarters of the Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO) is also located next to Shollenberger. PRBO is world famous for its research efforts and provides educational services to the public on-site. Additionally, the Petaluma Wetlands Alliance (PWA) conducts wetland tours. Its website features hundreds of wildlife photos, http://www.petalumawetlands.org/.

Properly promoted, the wetlands will attract thousands of birders and other eco-tourists to Petaluma. That has been the City of Petaluma and PWA’s goal for several years, awaiting the opening of the Ellis Creek segment of the trail. The success of this effort will greatly depend, however, upon maintaining the purity of the wetlands from harmful development, such as the Dutra asphalt and recycling facility proposed across the river from Shollenberger. Not only would the plant destroy scenic vistas along the Petaluma River but also create excessive noise and pollutants potentially harmful to the park animals, and even human visitors.

Visits from regional and national birders could enliven the local economy, creating jobs as well as producing sales and tax revenues, for birding is one of the most popular hobbies in this country. A 2001 study by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service produced amazing numbers. There are 46 million birders who travel to locations like the Petaluma wetlands, annually. They create 32 billion dollars in retail sales, 13 billion in federal and state taxes, and are responsible for over 800,000 jobs! Even the small town of Arcata, California, draws 150,000 visitors a year for its 150 acres of wetlands.

Bob Dyer, Senior Docent, Petaluma Wetlands

Click here to download a PDF of this letter.

Petaluma 360 Survey

2009-06-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

There is currently a survey on Petaluma 360.com on whether the city should support legal action to stop the Dutra asphalt plant if necessary. Help us by taking the survey!

Click here to take the survey!

Thank You Sonoma County Conservation Action!

2009-06-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

The Sonoma County Conservation Action crafted the following letter, distributing it door-to-door throughout the county to over 15,000 doors and obtaining over 200 letters (opposing the asphalt plant) to the Supervisors from residents in Petaluma, Sebastopol and Sonoma. Thank you for your support!

June 13, 2009

Dear Sonoma County Supervisors Brown, Carrillo, and Zane,

We commend you for opposing the Dutra Group’s project proposal for Haystack Landing in Petaluma. As you have witnessed, and the SCCA door to door canvass and Know Your Neighbor program volunteers have observed, there has been an enormous amount of community opposition to Dutra’s project at this location. We feel that the community has done their research and found many valid reasons to reject this asphalt plant. As you have acknowledged, the health concerns are undeniable; and these are in addition to many more unmitigable impacts.

Thank you so much for making a wise decision on this issue. We greatly appreciate your recognition of the public’s distaste for this project. In addition, it is honorable of you to consider Petaluma’s (and all cities’) Urban Growth Boundary. Given that it is clearly in our county’s General Plan to promote harmonious relationships between local governing bodies, we value your respect for unanimous opposition by the entire Petaluma City Council.

In closing, thank you for making the decision to not support Dutra’s project at Haystack Landing, and we encourage you to vote accordingly at the final meeting on July 21, 2009.

Respectfully,

Bonnie Berkeley, Board Chair
Bill Kortum, Board President Emeritus
Denny Rosatti, Executive Director
Jenna Brager, Know Your Neighbor Coordinator

Click Here To Download The Letter. (PDF)

Click Here To Visit The SCCA Website

Help Spread The Word!

Save Shollenberger Park

Hands Around Shollenberger

Appeal Filed: City of Petaluma et al. v. County of Sonoma et al.

Council Joins Community To Appeal Dutra Approval

STAND UP FOR SHOLLENBERGER RALLY HUGE !

Join Us! Sunday, January 15 3:30p to 4:30p At Shollenberger Park!

SAVE SHOLLENBERGER JOIN THE APPEAL!

DONTRA! No Asphalt Plant Next to Our Park!

DONTRA! NO Asphalt Factory Next To Our Park! ROUND TWO!

KNOWN IMPACTS OF THE DUTRA ASPHALT FACTORY: Judge Chouteau's legal ruling doesn't change the DUTRA Asphalt factory. It's still the same noxious factory.

WHY WE CAN WIN AN APPEAL AT A HIGHER COURT:

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Judge Chouteau Buys County's Arguments

PRESS RELEASE December 28, 2011

Judge Chouteau Buys County's Arguments Dutra Asphalt Factory Approval Upheld by Court

HELP SAVE SHOLLENBERGER PARK

OUR DAY IN COURT

HELP SAVE SHOLLENBERGER PARK

ADOPT A WILD ONE!

PRESERVE and PROTECT

For each animal adopted, YOU WILL RECEIVE:

Sample Photos from 50 Birds of Shollenberger

Party for the Park

Nov. 30, 2011

Dear Friends of Shollenberger,

Party for the Park! DEC. 2 FRI night at The Mail Depot – COME JOIN US!

DECEMBER IS DECISION MONTH for Shollenberger Park :

Shollenberger Park and the Petaluma Wetlands need your support now more than ever.

We ask you to help save Shollenberger Park by including us in your annual giving plans.

Friends of Shollenberger

What's happening Update

River advocate David Yearsley dies

Rose Foundation Grant Awarded to Friends of Shollenberger Park

A Community Coming Together - Thank you all!

Breaking News!

Judge Denies Shamrock requests for release from Dutra Asphalt Plant lawsuit

COME TO THE SHOLLENBERGER SHINDIG

Shamrock requests release from Dutra Asphalt Plant lawsuit.

White Swan Rummage Sale April 17!

FUNDRAISING: OUR MISSION TO SAVE SHOLLENBERGER

How to Donate

ADOPT A WILD ONE!

Lawsuit Filed January 14, 2011

FINAL VOTE BUT NOT THE FINAL ACT

Public's right to speak at Dutra Hearing: Brown Act requirements

FINAL VOTE on DUTRA ASPHALT FACTORY

People of Petaluma Speak Out Against Supes Straw Vote on Dutra

Last 8 Weeks of the Fight against Dutra in 2010

Our Community Will Win

Supervisors conduct straw vote 3-2 in favor of Dutra

Kerns' Towers....Your Legacy

We Need You Tomorrow!

Health Forum Video Clips

Response to Aimi Dutra's "Asphalt Magic"

The Public Deserves Better!

Asphalt Plant Center Of Debate In Petaluma

County Hearing on October 12th!

Last Call: Health Forum on Asphalt Plant Impacts this Thursday 9/30!

Spread the Word

Health Forum on Dutra Asphalt Plant

Oil Spill on Petaluma River

Have you been to Shollenberger lately??

IT TAKES A COMMUNITY by Kay Chandler

It Takes A Community - documentary premiere on 8/15

Dutra Project Morphs again!

Friends of Shollenberger Park Awarded Grant from the Rose Foundation

VOTER INFORMATION GUIDE - VOTE Tuesday June 8th

A Day At The Park - By Norris (Bob) Dyer

Petaluma River Cleanup this Saturday!

Dutra asphalt plant decision pushed back again

Response to Dutra's new Shamrock proposal

Next Week's Vote Likely Postponed Again

Dine-Out Fundraiser Tomorrow - Wednesday March 10th!

March 1st proclaimed Petaluma Wetlands Day

Show your Support for Shollenberger!

Join our Campaign...Donate Today!

The Dutra Magic Show

Dutra has a Terminal Gas Problem

Press Democrat: High time for county to reject Dutra project

Show support for our City Council!

DONTRA!
NO Asphalt Factory Next To Our Park!
ROUND TWO!

KNOWN IMPACTS OF THE DUTRA ASPHALT FACTORY:
Judge Chouteau's legal ruling doesn't change the DUTRA Asphalt factory. It's still the same noxious factory.

PRESS RELEASE
December 28, 2011

Judge Chouteau Buys County's Arguments
Dutra Asphalt Factory Approval Upheld by Court