Climate advocate urges county to set public‑health criteria for large fuel facilities near schools

Greg Sullivan of Climate and Kids used the public‑comment period to press the county to adopt public‑health and environmental criteria for large fuel facilities, especially where those developments are sited near schools and childcare.

Sullivan told commissioners the Costco Fuel Center at Mineral Place is "authorized to approximately 36,800,000 gallons of gasoline annually," and argued that such scale means large‑scale storage, delivery and handling with potential air‑quality and public‑safety implications for children near two schools. "When children already experience hundreds of asthma emergencies and hospitalizations every year, we should not wait for the next health statistic to tell us what to do next," he said.

Sullivan requested that county comments to municipal land‑use decisions include criteria addressing children's respiratory health, air quality, gasoline emissions, environmental risk and emergency‑response considerations. Commissioners thanked Sullivan and the sheriff and noted the county's role is often advisory when cities control development approvals; Sullivan asked the county to define public‑health criteria before similar projects are approved.