I would like to take this opportunity to respond to the inaccurate and malicious statements against our company made by Mr. David Keller in his recent opinion piece in the Argus-Courier.

The fact is that it’s easy to simply oppose anything and everything as Mr. Keller so often does. The most difficult tasks are those that attempt to create something tangible that will benefit Sonoma County and to do so in a manner that is sensitive to the community and the environment. That is our mission with our Haystack Landing proposal.

Throughout the process of public review of our proposal to restore a local source of asphalt and aggregate for southern Sonoma County, we have listened and acted in what we feel is the best interest of the community. Having a local source with barge access to the Petaluma River is not only important for the local economy, it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating the need to truck aggregate and asphalt from Santa Rosa or Vallejo. The result is to keep hundreds of trucks per day off Highway 101 and Highway 116.

Regarding our contacts with the Coast Guard, Mr. Keller’s comments could not be further from the truth. The most recent position of the Coast Guard reversed its position set forth in letters to the county in March and November 2009 that approved barge operations. The new position raised the potential of other mooring restrictions in the Petaluma River to the detriment of maritime interests. It also has the effect of jeopardizing the availability of federal funds to dredge the river, which in turn could impair commercial and recreational use, flood control and ecology.

In order for the required dredging of the river to be funded by the federal government, it must support a certain annual tonnage of commercial use. Recent commercial use has not satisfied the tonnage requirement. Unless additional business on the river is permitted, its very existence as a navigable stream could be at risk. This is not “spin,” as Mr. Keller states; it is the take of experts familiar with the thresholds for federally funded dredging operations by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Regarding Mr. Keller’s claims concerning the channel, the figures submitted to the county and the Coast Guard for the barge offloading originally proposed for Haystack Landing correctly show the distance from the edge of the barge, when moored in two different offloading configurations, to the opposite side of the navigable channel of the Petaluma River. The “federal channel” is narrower and is also shown on the figures. Therefore, there was no misrepresentation as claimed by Mr. Keller.

In any event, to address concerns about navigational safety and to further reduce noise, emissions and visual impacts, Dutra has proposed to use the existing Landing Way offloading facility located about 580 feet upriver, and transfer aggregate from there to Haystack Landing plant by electric conveyor. Because Dutra barges have already been analyzed in the Haystack Landing EIR and the use of Landing Way further reduces impacts, recirculation of the EIR will not be required. The relocation of barge offloading to Landing Way will not only eliminate concerns about navigational safety and further reduce noise, emissions and visual impacts, it will also help to ensure that commerce on the Petaluma River will continue as it has over the past 100 years.

Mr. Keller’s reckless and false statements regarding our company are increasingly desperate. His tactics are not new. They have been directed at any number of proposals. Frankly, we believe that people have grown weary of his scare tactics.

The Dutra Group is a family-owned business. We have not become a leader in our industry by acting irresponsibly and cutting corners. The Haystack Landing facility promises to be a world-class source of asphalt production with clean and efficient operations that reduce environmental impacts — something even Mr. Keller should favor.

Countless residents in the community support our efforts to bring Haystack Landing to southern Sonoma County. We are grateful for their continued support, and we are excited to know that our new proposal will be before the Board of Supervisors for a final hearing in the near future.

- Aimi Dutra

(Aimi Dutra is community relations director for the Dutra Group, which is proposing to build an asphalt plant on the southern outskirts of Petaluma.)