To the Editor:

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the town meeting concerning the Everett Propane Facility. While I totally respect the need for more businesses in Bethel and the positive impact this can have on the finances of the town, I do have serious reservations about the safety of this project for the residents of Bethel, especially teenagers driving to and from Telstar, as well as elderly individuals pulling out of Bailey Road.

There have already been numerous accidents on Route 26 across from Telstar as well as near Bailey Road. These accidents tend to involve new, young drivers or elderly individuals. The idea that one of these “at risk” groups could collide with a propane truck on that blind hill is terrifying to me.

Aside from those directly involved in a potential accident, the downstream impact would be a need to evacuate the area. Telstar school would be in this evacuation zone, yet the rest of the buses needed for an evacuation would be on the other side of the propane facility. This does not even take into account that bus drivers would need to get from town to the school in order to effect an evacuation.

While this may seem an unlikely situation, just to put my own mind at ease I Googled propane evacuations. I was both surprised and horrified to find two such situations just in the past few weeks. Searching further and finding the number of propane truck rollover events is even more concerning. While Everett may have thought of precautions in terms of the facility itself, that does not mitigate the larger issue of explosions and collisions given the location they have chosen for this propane facility.

I am a business owner, with a business on Route 26 across from Telstar High School. As a small business proprietor, I do understand and empathize with the difficulties Everett is facing in attempting to succeed in a business that you own and operate. On the other hand, as a mother of three children, all of whom attended Telstar Middle/High School, I have serious concerns about a facility of that type so close to the school.

The proposed facility is just outside the school zone where cars begin to speed up. It is also in a location that is essentially a blind hill as you are driving from Telstar into town. Having lived in town for 20 years, there has already been too many accidents involving our young people. I fear that the location of the proposed facility, in a blind spot just outside of the school zone between school and town, is literally an accident waiting to happen.

No one wants to wait until the first propane truck is in a collision with a 16-year-old driver to reflect back and realize that this is not the best location for tanker trucks to be turning on and off Route 26. There are numerous other locations in the surrounding area that are better suited for an industrial business such as this.

If my children were still attending Telstar, I would be frightened to know that a propane facility was going to be just down the road, that my girls would need to avoid tanker trucks filled with propane when they were pulling in and out of the high school as new drivers. I would be afraid for my girls to run track along the road where Telstar trains, out of concern that a tanker pulling in or out could cause a crash that might result in an explosion.

While I recognize as a business owner that Everett Propane has purchased the home on Route 26 and does not want to incur the cost of another location, I cannot see how shoehorning a propane facility in that locale is safe.

With another Everett propane refilling facility approximately 15 miles down the road, I am unsure why this proposed facility needs to be constructed so close to a school, a church and residential homes, other than the fact that Mr. Everett has already purchased the property and wants to make use of it.

As a business owner I totally understand that sentiment. As a mother, and a long-time resident of Bethel, I cannot see risking it. I have always felt that my role as a parent was more important than anything I have done on a business front and that personal decisions take priority over monetary ones.

Dr. Amy Yasko
Bethel