Heed the warnings: Intense fires, devastating floods, rising seas, smoky air, oppressive heat, dying fish, and the list goes on! All creating dangerous conditions for humans, animals, and plants across the globe and in our region. Mother Nature is sending very loud and clear signals that all is not well.

Even though there is an urgent need to curb the use of fossil fuels as fast as possible, there remains a proposal for Colbea Industries, an out-of-town developer, to locate an eight-bay Seasons gas station here. Right here in Tiverton, where there are multiple gas stations already. Why would we let this happen? How can we, in good conscience, given the floods, fires, triple-digit heat, and more devastating impacts allow this? When is our town’s leadership going to stand up and fight for the safety and security of our residents? At this point, it is hard to understand why this proposal is still active.

This community needs to fight to keep this giant gas station OUT of our town. Colbea Industries has sprinkled their Seasons stations throughout our region with no concern for the welfare and well-being of the communities they are targeting. It is doubtful that these stations will be viable in a decades’ time. Their business model defies rational thought unless short-term profits truly are the only goal. Tiverton will not benefit from this because we will be stuck with a defunct gas station in the not-too-distant future—a real dinosaur! Certainly, one of the prettiest towns in Rhode Island does not need be held hostage by a business that is so out-of-step with the state of the environment and with the state of Rhode Island’s mandates to restrict the sale of gas-powered vehicles going forward. Nothing about locating a Seasons anywhere in town acknowledges the dire consequences for our community, and more broadly, for the health of the planet.

The town council recently joined the citizens opposed to the crematorium and supported them by rejecting a crematorium on Main Road even when current zoning would have allowed it. The outcry over the Seasons’ project was no less vigorous. Where is the council on this one? What is the meaning of the recent brief filed by the town solicitor endorsing the actions of the Zoning Board of Review (ZBR) when that body totally discounted the careful and thorough review of Colbea’s application by the Tiverton Planning Board (TPB)? The ZBR failed us. The TPB did not.

This is not the first time Tiverton has confronted a high-pressure situation from a big business bent on profiting off a small town. Back in the 1970’s, Tiverton’s townspeople had to fight for the quality of life everyone living here enjoys and values today. Northeastern Petroleum Industries wanted to situate a refinery and tank farm on Mount Hope Bay in the north part of town, but concerned citizens took on the fight along with members of the town council and won! That is exactly what Tiverton needs to do now! Band together to fight this misguided and damaging project. Mother Nature is growing impatient-can we afford to ignore the warnings?

Gayle Lawrence

Tiverton