Bella Terra Upsets Residents

Source: Red Rock News and Responsible Residents of the Red Rocks

Although BySynergy has jumped every official hurdle to push ahead with the Bella Terra development near Red Rock Crossing, big issues still remain.

Four years ago a 58-acre farm off the Upper Red Rock Loop Road was sold. It had unparalleled view of Cathedral Rock, an historic residence and a small trailer park. Some of the property borders Caroll Canyon Wash and Oak Creek. BySynergy that bought the parcel announced it would build 212 homes on the site in townhouse fashion. The Red Rock Rural Community Association (RRRCA) became alarmed. The high-density cookie cutter housing units did not reflect the rural character of the area. And there was worry about water resources. Representatives of the RRRCA with the help of 4R members sat down with the developer to modify the proposal.

Consequently the number of housing units was reduced to 106 to be sold as half-acre lots. A promise was made by the developer to pipe water from the Arizona Water Company down the hill to the development site. The county reviewed the plan, which is now known as Bella Terra. Bringing a water pipe required permission from the US Forest Service whose land it would encroach upon. The Forest Service made it clear that there was a precedent using the pathway provided by the Upper Red Rock Loop Road where a gas line was already in place. The developer preferred a shorter route down the old post road following the power lines down to the area; but the old post road would require an extensive NEPA process. The developer abandoned his plan and requested an amendment to the plat plan. He proposed to dig two deep wells to be operated by the Arizona Water Company.

At roughly the same time the community found that twenty shallow wells had gone dry within a few months; many of which had failed after a new well nearby had been dug by a new homeowner. The well digger had fractured the rock formation between the shallow aquifer and mid-sized aquifer such that the water drained from the shallower aquifer into the mid-sized aquifer. Fears of similar fate were aroused with the Bella Terra amendment to dig a still deeper well of 1,000 feet leaving those whose well depth was around 500 feet in jeopardy. The county supervisors voted 2 to 1 to approve the amendment citing that they had no jurisdiction over water issues.

Approval for wastewater disposal was now the next hurdle for the developer. A hearing on July 21 to obtain an Aquifer Protection Permit (APP) from the Arizona Department of Environment Quality drew a record number of citizens who expressed concerns about the proposed waste disposal facility. The developer proposed to use chlorination to “purify” the wastewater in a disposal field close to the wash. Over 200 people came to express their concerns; the library venue could hold only 100. The hearing lasted over five hours in two sessions. As a result developer proposed to amend the plan so that the effluent would be treated using an ultra violet process and dispose of the treated effluent in three disposal fields as well as periodic checks at the well head. A meeting about the revision took place on August 30. A hearing of that amended plan is set for Nov. 1 at the Sedona Red Rock High School Cafeteria.

There remain concerns about that “treated” water seeping back into the aquifer and into Oak Creek. Organic compounds, antibiotics. Hormones and other byproducts are essentially unaffected by the ultraviolet treatment and find their way back into the drinking water affecting humans, plants and wildlife. Unfortunately there are no standards set by governmental agencies to guide the process.

There continue to be concerns about the flood plain and its relationship to some of the building lots along the Oak Creek segment of the development. It is another long saga of land development and it’s relationship to water, wildlife and one of the remaining riparian areas in Arizona.                    (by Sam Braun)

The Red Rock Rural Community Association is concerned about A+ effluent from the Bella Terra development which expects to release 24,000 gallons daily. Through recharge this A+ wastewater can and will enter Oak Creek as well as the aquifer from which the 400 residents pump their water. The City of Sedona is considering a proposal to upgrade its sewage treatment facility and discharge A+ effluent into the aquifer. It's effluent is currently at a lower grade and sprayed onto the land.

Recently developed analytic methods can now detect contaminants at parts per trillion. A+ wastewater can contain traces of pharmaceuticals used by residents: antibiotics, anti-depressants, hormones from hormone replacement therapy, pain killers as ibuprofen as well as steroids, pesticides, hair dye and hundreds of other harmful contaminants. It is staggering to realize that roughly 100 new medications are developed yearly.

The effects of these contaminants on the environment and on the people who use this water are only beginning to be understood. In 2002 the US Geological Service published results of some of those man made contaminants including fertilizers and flame-retardants as well as pharmaceuticals. Animals that continually imbibe this broth are beginning to reveal abnormalities. Frogs and rats that develop infections and deformities when exposed to multiple pollutant even at extremely low levels. (Drugging the Waters by Elizabeth Royte in ONEARTH: Environment, Politics and People published by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Fall 2006 p. 28).

"We have the technology to take out everything," says Lynn Orphan, former President of the Water Environment Federation, which represents operators of municipal wastewater treatment plants. "We can use activated carbon or membrane filters with tiny pores. There is reverse osmosis filtration, which removes organic contaminants (in the article-cited p 31).

What kind of environment we want to live in and what we will bequeath to our children and grandchildren is before us. Let your representative know your thoughts and concern. The technology is in our grasp.