Pinal OKs plan by Oracle dump despite concerns
By Hanna Miller 
ARIZONA DAILY STAR 

Pinal County supervisors yesterday unanimously approved the rezoning of a 2,500-acre parcel adjacent to an Oracle-area landfill, paving the way for the construction of a 6,000-home retirement community. 

More than 50 people attended the meeting, with an equal number of supporters and opponents seated on opposite sides of the aisle. Although the proposed SaddleBrooke Ranch project has generated thick scientific studies, the discussion boiled down to a debate over the relative merits of job creation vs. environmental protection. 

Opponents of the plan accused supervisors of sacrificing environmental safety for a quick economic fix. Pinal County's financial foundation was shaken last year by the closing of BHP's San Manuel copper mine. 

"I want you to think about your grandchildren," 70-year-old William Longquist told board chairman Lionel Ruiz. 

"Unfortunately, they're all out of Pinal County because there are no jobs here," Ruiz responded. 

According to officials with Robson Communities, the SaddleBrooke Ranch developer, the subdivision could provide 1,000 jobs over the next 20 years. But promises of jobs aren't enough to appease Oracle resident Mary Ellen Kazda. 

"Our primary concern is the foolishness of putting three golf courses and 12,000 people next to a toxic waste dump," Kazda said. 

The Page-Trowbridge Ranch landfill, which was operated by the University of Arizona from 1962 until 1986, was the burial ground for hundreds of tons of hazardous and radioactive waste. Monitoring wells have found few or no landfill pollutants in area groundwater, but critics say development could impinge upon the safety of their drinking water. 

Some Oracle residents fear increased pumping will draw contaminants into their water supply, which originates from just south of the proposed subdivision. 

Kazda, who had no doubt the rezoning would win approval, said development opponents are considering petitioning for a referendum to stop construction. 

SaddleBrooke Ranch developer Steve Soriano said Robson Communities will donate $5.5 million to Pinal County if a referendum doesn't appear on the ballot. Otherwise, he said, that money will be used to fight the measure. 

"By doing the referendum, they're wiping out any chance of making sure we have safe water," Soriano said. 

According to Soriano, if Robson Communities is allowed to proceed with SaddleBrooke Ranch, it would pursue a comprehensive capping process that would virtually guarantee no contaminants could ever seep into the groundwater. Robson Communities utilities general manager Jim Poulis characterized it as a "belt and suspenders approach," while stressing that no contaminants have yet been detected in samples taken from the area. 

But plan opponent Clifford A. Russell counters that those studies were flawed. Russell is particularly concerned with a finding this spring by Turner Laboratories Inc. 

The lab, which performed analyses for the University of Arizona, found toluene, a solvent commonly used in contact cement, at a rate of 3.7 parts per billion in a single sample. The detection could not be verified because it was not reported until other samples taken the same day were no longer useful: A result must be duplicated to be reported, said Steve Holland, UA director of risk management. 

Holland said another set of samples taken in August showed no contaminants. 

"The lab should have told us immediately," Holland said of the toluene finding. "At that low of a number, we didn't get excited, but it is a problem. We're modifying our protocol." 

Russell says the UA's failure to disclose the toluene finding in its official report suggests its data may not be entirely trustworthy. 

"The question is, if UA says there's no problem, why do they have to withhold this?," Russell said. 

Soriano - who warned during yesterday's meeting that when all the facts were known, the plan's opponents would be "toast" - dismisses Russell's concerns as unsubstantiated fear-mongering. 

"That's 'X-Files' stuff," Soriano said. " 'X-Files' is a good show, but it's not real life." 

"We just want our questions answered," opponent Ruben Perez told the supervisors. "We are sincere. We may be sincerely wrong, but they may also be wrong. We're asking you to defer until more studies are completed." 

But supervisor Sandie Smith argued that if Robson Communities wasn't given the go-ahead, unregulated development would soon crop up on the same land.