| Three or
more years after methylene chloride was detected in the Oracle water supply
and two or more years after ethylbenzene and xylene's were detected in
the SaddleBrooke Water Supply, Dacre Bush, a hydrologist with the engineering
firm of Dames and Moore, guaranteed that "contaminants will never hit Oracle
drinking water".
Oracle draws its drinking water
from the same aquifer that supplies several communities between Oracle
and northwest Tucson.
Bush made the guarantee while representing
the firm of Dames & Moore at a Pinal County Planning & Zoning hearing
held August 17th. During this hearing Robson Communities
requested rezoning to allow a 6,000 home community to be built on land
adjacent to the Page-Trowbridge radioactive/toxic waste landfill.
Dames & Moore was hired by
Robson to produce a report on the threat that the Page-Trowbridge landfill
poses to groundwater supplying several communities, including the proposed
retirement community.
A conservative estimate of the
potential revenue to Robson Communities that would be generated by SaddleBrooke
Ranch is $1,500,000,000.
The report cost Robson $30,000.
Residents Want Specifics
Oracle residents, heartened by
the guarantee that Page-Trowbridge poses no threat to their health or property
value, are making inquiries to Dames & Moore to determine specifics
of the guarantee. |
Questions
to Dames & Moore regarding specifics of the guarantee include:
-
Will Dames & Moore agree to absorb any and all financial losses suffered
by residents of Oracle should contamination of the water supply by the
Page-Trowbridge radioactive/toxic waste landfill occur?
-
Will Dames & Moore insure the health and well-being Oracle residents
for as long as water is delivered from the aquifer that runs under the
Page-Trowbridge radioactive/toxic waste landfill?
Growing Interest
Because several communities depend on
water from the aquifer that runs under the Page-Trowbridge radioacitve/toxic
waste landfill, interest in the Dames & Moore guarantee is expected
to grow.
Communities depending on water from the
aquifer that runs under Page-Trowrbridge include:
-
Oracle
-
SaddleBrooke I
-
SaddleBrooke II (an extension of SaddleBrooke I recently approved
by the Pinal County Board of Supervisors)
-
Catalina
-
Sun City Vistoso
-
Oro Valley
-
Marana
-
Northwest Tucson
-
SaddleBrooke Ranch, a proposed retirement community of 6,000 homes.
-
Willow Springs, a proposed development of at least 34,000 homes.
-
Eagle Crest Ranch, a planned community of 975 homes.
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