I am writing to express my outrage and disappointment regarding the actions taken by the Park City School District. The recent issue with contaminated water samples from their district and the possible destruction of our local environment is a tremendous environmental neglect by the Park City School District.
The amount of contaminated groundwater, reportedly illegally pumped (500,000 gallons) into Silver Creek, is appalling and constitutes a direct attack on our local ecosystem.
To compound the damage caused by this act, the district is now removing the decades-old pine trees that were surrounding the track. These trees have been providing much-needed habitat for local wildlife, as well as capturing the carbon created from not only the district’s fossil fuel dependence, but also from the surrounding areas of our community. By removing these trees, the district is taking further action to destroy the local environment.
The time it takes to regenerate the carbon filtration and ecological services these pine trees provide will be many decades. In addition, by removing the trees the district is releasing the stored carbon that was captured by these trees back to the environment, and completely destroying the natural habitats for the wildlife that live in these areas.
When did the Park City School District stop being the steward of the environment for our children? We need transparency, accountability, an immediate stop to this negligence. Our town, our creek, our trees, our future.
Briana Unanue
Park City