Letters to the Editor: The Future of Groceries in Port Townsend and High density housing and a local paper mill, can we really have both?
Please note: This letter to the editor is in response to a letter from the editor that went out in our last newsletter. If you want to receive these letters, please subscribe to our weekly newsletter. It’s free!
Dear Editor,
Re this comment in your email below:
“The parent company of Safeway and QFC has sold 124 stores in Washington, including the two QFCs in Jefferson County. The buyer is C&S Wholesale Grocers, which also owns the Piggly Wiggly stores. According to one source, QFC union members have contracts for at least another year, so it’s unlikely those stores will close in the immediate future. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more.”
I just want to point out that the parent company of Safeway (Albertsons) and the parent company of QFC (Kroger) have not yet merged. The merger may never happen, depending on how several antitrust lawsuits pan out. 124 stores in Washington have been announced, but they have not yet been sold to C&S Wholesale, and the sale will not happen if the merger does not go through.
Richard Berg
Dear Richard (and the other folk who wrote in),
You are 100% correct. I spent a while last night researching the potential closure of our local stores, and for some reason, everything I looked at emphasized the sale, not the fact that it’s not yet a foregone conclusion.
Thanks to everyone who has pointed this out, and I’m glad to have the excuse to correct my mistake. We’ll be publishing more stories about food security in Jefferson County soon.
Best wishes,
Nhatt Nichols
Editor
Dear Editor,
Reading the recent article about potential air quality issues caused by the mill, one thing that was mentioned struck me: a significant factor in the abatement of sulphur pollution could be the natural environment's ability to absorb and process some of those pollutants. As development continues, especially on Castle Hill, more and more acres of green lots and stands of trees are being sacrificed to a not insignificant need for housing. As someone who grew up on McPherson Street, my young lungs benefited from a lot more greenery sucking up the mill stench than residents do now.
My concern is that with the local policy push for higher density housing to help relieve the emergency level shortage in the city (and, frankly, in the big picture, to eliminate sprawl and ease commuting traffic), Port Townsend is going to end up gassing itself from pollution coming from our largest employer.
I would imagine the capture technology would have to bring pollutants down pretty close to zero to guarantee the respiratory health of our burgeoning population within the city limits.
Just a thought,
Nigel O'Shea
