The EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) defines ‘ecosystem’ as an interactive and changing system that includes the soil, air, water, plants, animals and microorganisms within in a defined area.  It is a natural system in which energy and nutrients cycle between plants, animals and their environment.

According to the EPA, ecosystems provide critical services or functions to the environment, known as “ecosystem services”.  These services sustain human life and include:

• providing filtered air and water
• nutrients to soil
• food sources
• flood control
• critical habitat and many other benefits

Sustainability for all living things comes by first protecting the watershed.  We then as a community of concerned citizens need to give thoughtful consideration of how to protect and minimize the impact that buildings, impervious surfaces (such as parking lots and roadways), or related runoff pollutants will have on all other interdependent life forms.

ROSA’s primary concern is to protect the main source aquifer that exists on the Patrick Farm property.  We, however, are also seeking a comprehensive, independent review of not only the planned development’s impact on water but on all other related natural elements.   What will deforestation do to this 200+ acre stretch along Routes 202 and 306?  Are there endangered species that will be affected?  Where will displaced animals go to seek food, and will their journey for sustenance disrupt the safety of drivers and cyclists along an otherwise scenic stretch of roadway?  Will fertilizers, pesticides and paved surface runoff that are inevitable when 5,000+ new residents take occupancy, contaminate the soil?