Water: Sewage Reclamation Project

The proposed San Gabriel Valley sewage recharge project is not a private war between the Miller Brewing Co. and the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District (July 28). It is a program that worries many business people and residents of this area as is evidenced by the concerns voiced by members of the Irwindale Chamber of Commerce. In fact, on Sept. 12 our board of directors voted to adopt a resolution opposing the project.

The San Gabriel Valley is already No. 1 (and mentioned four times) on the list of polluted sites in the United States, and no cleanup efforts have been made. Is it not legitimate for all of the companies here to be against even the slightest chance of further contamination?

Miller Brewing Co. has been a good corporate citizen and twice converted part of its plant to bottling water to aid earthquake victims. As a business, there is nothing wrong with being concerned about their public image. Why has the water district refused to allow the company to conduct independent testing? Isn’t it also true that as a business, the water district gains a lucrative project if it can sell reclaimed water for drinking purposes rather than for irrigation or industrial use?

The Irwindale Chamber of Commerce is opposed to this project.

JOE DiSHANNI

Executive director Irwindale Chamber of Commerce