Dear Editor:
The Aug. 8 Osoyoos Times reported on a town council meeting at which the 62nd Ave. road construction was discussed.
Of particular interest were the comments concerning dust pollution from the project.
Pursuant to a complaint from a nearby resident, the contractor is watering the road three times a day. This dust control measure was adopted rather than calcium chloride, which is apparently another option.
Residents of Desert Rose Estates, adjacent to the Osoyoos industrial area, are constantly subject to dust pollution from heavy truck traffic on dirt roads and yards, particularly when the wind is from the north.
Desert Rose and neighbouring development Casitas del Sol have expressed our concerns to the town over the years, but no action has been taken to date.
One reply from the town suggested that people should have anticipated pollution when they purchased property next to an industrial area, and suggested we grow trees/plants that would trap the dust.
It also kicked the can down the road, promising to “study” the situation. Thanks for nothing!
I would turn this comment around and submit that the town should not have zoned this area for residential development in view of the ambient industrial pollution.
I offer the following questions to Mayor McKortoff and the town council:
Why the double standard? Why does the project under discussion at that meeting use dust control, when our community has never received requested relief from the ongoing dust pollution we endure?
If one of the industrial residents were polluting the groundwater, would this be tolerated? This is more than a nuisance, it is a health issue, and airborne particulates in the form of dust are a recognized health hazard.
I welcome a response from the mayor and council, as do other residents of my community.
Peter Graham
Osoyoos, B.C.
