In his comments on 10/12 Supervisor Carrillo argued that asphalt plants should not be located exclusively in low-income or minority neighborhoods such as his home neighborhood near the BoDean asphalt plant on Maxwell Court in Santa Rosa.
Like me, many Petaluma residents respect and support the principles of environmental justice.
Carrillo’s comments imply that environmental justice can be achieved by countering the asphalt plant in his neighborhood with a Dutra plant in Petaluma. This argument is simply not valid. Environmental justice is concerned with cleaning up pollution in disadvantaged neighborhoods, not about ignoring said pollution and subjecting others to the same. If the Maxwell Court operation near Supervisor Carrillo’s home is unsafe then the goal should be to make it safer. If the county has failed to adequately minimize harmful pollution in Santa Rosa, it is not the responsibility of the citizens of Petaluma or any other town in the county to also accept a toxic burden.