A massive warehouse with heavy tractor-trailer traffic is proposed for an area of the rural town of Plattekill next to my rural town of Gardiner. I’ve seen some amazingly skilled driving by tractor-trailer drivers but a two-lane road with a six-inch shoulder will defeat the most skillful. Our roads are not designed or paved for heavy truck traffic. I have seen only the occasional tractor-trailer on our roads and have felt pity for the driver.

So how many jobs will make up for the desecration of our quiet, dark and beautiful rural area? And what will be their wages? Working conditions? Is this development appropriate for a rural residential area?

I’m an environmental toxicologist. Burning any fossil fuel will produce toxic gases and particles. The particles in diesel exhaust defeat the protective design of our airways because the particles are so small. The particles, which have toxic chemicals adsorbed (stuck) to them, travel deep into our lungs, where the abundant blood flow will carry those chemicals around the body.

Roofs and paved areas are called nonpermeable surfaces because water is not absorbed as it would be into soil. That mega-development will supply nonpermeable surfaces that will wash whatever falls on the parking areas and loading docks from the motor vehicles and any fallen merchandise onto ground and into any rain-regenerated aquifer that supplies local residential wells. Any not absorbed will end up in the nearby streams, poisoning the plants and animals living there. And are there any flooding problems in the area? Nonpermeable surfaces, particularly such a large amount as this warehouse and paved areas will supply, will aggravate the problem.