Letter of Concern to Mayor Rayapati - After Action Report
On September 16th, an article in the Argus/Dispatch caught our attention because it noted that the city of Moline was “…examining bottling and selling the city’s award-winning water…”. Members of the PACG Environmental Forum sent a letter of concern noting that single-use plastics are a source of pollution from the point of creation to the point of disposal. We pointed out that there are many health concerns related to the chemicals that leach from plastics into food sources and cause health problems, and we encouraged Mayor Rayapati to consider a different way of providing their water to interested parties, such as using 5 gallon refillable water dispensers.
We also complimented the City of Moline on other environmental policies such as providing each homeowner with a recycling bin and supporting the Metrolink solar project and electric buses. Further, we noted that Moline’s representative to the Rock Island County Waste Management Agency’s Board was one of only two votes to maintain the drop-off recycling centers.
The mayor answered our email the next day with a thoughtful response, stating, “Thank you very much for bringing your viewpoints to our attention. They are valid and definitely need to be considered as we try to be environmentally aware in not only intention but in action. Thank you for recognizing our work to this point as well. Please feel free to reach out with more ideas for alternatives to single-use water bottling as you think of them.”
It was heartening to get a timely response, and to hear recognition of our concerns. We would like to find a way to be proactive in learning about other Quad City municipal actions that impact our local environment. If you become aware of local projects that impact our environment, either positively or negatively, please let our forum know, and we will reach out to the appropriate city staff.
Lori McCollum