Letter: For sake of Westport and its river, support Ryden for BOH

Posted 3/27/19

To the editor:

Tanja Ryden is the change of leadership at the Board of Health that Westport urgently needs. Everyone who is concerned about storm water run-off problems, ground water contamination …

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Letter: For sake of Westport and its river, support Ryden for BOH

Posted

To the editor:

Tanja Ryden is the change of leadership at the Board of Health that Westport urgently needs. Everyone who is concerned about storm water run-off problems, ground water contamination and nitrogen pollution in the Westport River should vote for Ryden. Everyone who wants an animal site registry should vote for Ryden. Everyone who wants our leadership to rise up to intelligently meet the challenges bearing down on us should vote for Ryden.

Westport is complex culturally and politically. We’re a big town geographically, but small population-wise. Our votes are pretty much split down the middle Democrat and Republican. While we like to think of ourselves as a farming and fishing community, the truth of it is that our north end is really more of a suburb, with many residents working along the I-195 and I-24 corridors. Retirees comprise a sizable percentage of those living south of Hix Bridge. Summer residents with homes along our beaches and both branches of our river provide a substantial portion of our municipal budget. We have the old timers whose families have lived here for generations and the “newcomers” who’ve only been around for a few decades or less.

Yet for all our differences, we believe there are two aspects of our community on which most of us can agree. One, we are experiencing very rapid development. Two, we treasure the natural beauty of Westport, which is most prominently defined by our gorgeous two-branched river and beaches, farmland, and wooded acreage. The first is incompatible with the second and, without smart and immediate action by community leaders, development interests will always trump the protection of natural resources.

Housing developments are going up throughout town, and every other month it seems another one is under review. Large tracts of woods are being clearcut for housing and solar arrays at an alarming rate. Storm water run-off brought on by increasingly heavy rains and exacerbated by clearcutting, negligent surface grading, and soil compaction is becoming a major issue town wide.

The Westport River is stewing in nitrogen and other organic and chemical pollutants. Algae blooms cover large swaths of both branches spring and summer — coating the riverbanks and marshes with thick green slime, depleting oxygen levels underneath, and suffocating river life. Our salt marshes are eroding into mudflats and then literally collapsing into the water.

There are two candidates running for BOH. The one vying for reelection has had three years to exhibit some interest in these issues. Only in the past week has he vocalized the words “cleaning up the river.”

Tanja Ryden is committed to finding workable solutions to our storm water problems, to cleaning up our river, and to working with the Board of Selectmen and Planning Board to better define parameters for new construction. Her public health credentials are impressive, as is her professional experience working in state government and with town boards and local environmental non-profits.

Please join us in voting for Tanja Ryden for BOH this April 9.

Constance Gee

Wendy and Chuck Goldberg

Laurie and John Bullard

Georgie Thomas and David LaLima

Mark Turick

Westport

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