- Target:
- City of Flagstaff
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- www.protectthepeaks.org
We the undersigned are deeply concerned about the implementation of the reclaimed wastewater pipeline being constructed on the San Francisco Peaks and into Flagstaff, Arizona.
The Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort is planning to make artificial snow with the reclaimed wastewater on the mountain this winter and is carrying out their wishes in arrogant disregard to how it impacts the health of our community. The water is known to potentially carry contaminants (listed in Dr. Cathy Propper’s study called the “ Endocrine Disruptor Screening Project” and Dr. Robin Silver’s study “Antibiotic Resistance Gene Testing of Recycled Water Samples”) and is not adequately reviewed by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) or sincerely considered by the City of Flagstaff.
As community members of Flagstaff, we and other inhabitants face multiple repercussions from the creation of artificial snow; for instance:
- Severe alterations to sensitive, rare alpine forest due to clearcuts and reclaimed waste water exposure;
- Run off water from the mountain and it seeping into the aquifer and further decreasing Flagstaff’s and surrounding communities’ fresh water resource;
- Wildlife fleeting into surrounding neighborhoods due to infrastructure encroaching on their territory and ultimately displacing them from their habitats, i.e. habitat fragmentation;
- Increased, disruptive traffic on highway 180, the road leading to Snowbowl;
- Noise from the pipeline disrupting wildlife, hikers, and campers on the mountain;
- Soil, water, and air contamination; particularly pollutants not currently tested for in treated wastewater in this locale;
- Effects on threatened species, the San Francisco Peaks Ragwort.
We urge the City of Flagstaff to sincerely take our concerns and the findings of both Dr. Propper’s and Dr. Silver’s studies into consideration and to uphold your second guiding principle:
Nurture healthy ecosystems: natural environmental health is inherent to individual and community health.
In light of the new research released by Dr. Silver, we urge the City of Flagstaff to further examine its use of reclaimed water in the city and in surrounding areas, and end the contract with Arizona Snowbowl to avoid serious contamination of the San Francisco Peaks until ADEQ revises its "safety standards".
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The No reclaimed wastewater on the San Francisco Peaks! petition to City of Flagstaff was written by PTP and is in the category Health at GoPetition.