Neighbors, union workers protest BoDean asphalt plant

Opponents of Santa Rosa’s BoDean asphalt plant staged a rally Saturday to demand that the city curtail the facility’s hours of operations.

The group, led by Citizens for Safe Neighborhoods, contends the Maxwell Drive plant’s nighttime operations generate noise and disrupt life for people who live in the city’s West End. The group wants the city to reconsider the company’s use permit and to restrict hours of operation to daytime.

“We feel we have to continue to put pressure on our elected leaders,” said neighborhood activist Allen Thomas, who helped organize the rally.

About 50 people waved signs while walking around the DeTurk Round Barn to bring attention to their cause. Several candidates who are running for one of three seats on the Santa Rosa City Council were on hand, as was current city Councilwoman Erin Carlstrom.

Tenth Street resident Stacey Murray participated because, she said, she’s concerned about the amount of dust she said is generated by the asphalt plant.

“It used to be a light dusting, but nothing like it is now,” she said.

The rally also included members of Operating Engineers Local Union 3, which has tried unsuccessfully in the past to organize workers at the BoDean plant.

“That’s who’s behind this,” BoDean general manager Bill Williams said Saturday.

Williams said the plant generally operates between the hours of 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., but that on “rare” occasions, production takes place at night for street paving.

“There are times when roads, for obvious reasons, can’t be paved during the day,” he said.

He made the case that the plant would have to go into production more often at night were it not for three 82-foot storage silos that the city allowed BoDean to install.

Citizens for Safe Neighborhoods filed an appeal of Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Elliot Daum’s October ruling upholding the city’s decision allowing installation of the silos.

The group argues that the city should have required BoDean to conduct a full environmental review of the $1.5 million project because the plant is located in a primarily residential area.

You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @deadlinederek.