The issue:  

We, the undersigned, oppose the pending Mesa County Conditional Use Permit (PRO2024-0298) for the proposed waste plastics processing facility located at 1278 19 Road, Fruita, CO. 

This project proposes to allow Astera, a California based start-up company, to establish a plastic microwave-assisted pyrolysis facility on our rural, agricultural, and residential lands. They claim their new technology of grinding and microwaving waste plastics by high heat to convert it into toxic syngas fuel, carbon black, and graphene is “plastic recycling”. Based on a recent Colorado state law,  Colorado Revised Statutes 25-17-703, the production of syngas for fuel does not qualify as recycling.  Further, this is Astera’s first such facility, referenced as a “prototype” in proposal documents, and is based on a process that has not been proven on an industrial scale. 

Astera proposes that the Fruita facility would have the ability to process up to 6 tons of waste plastic per day in a location surrounded by working farms and homes.  

In addition to health and contamination hazards to our valley that have yet to be fully and accurately disclosed, this proposal raises serious concerns regarding property value decline, as well as industrial expansion inconsistent with current agricultural and residential use.

We call on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to:

-Deny any permitting process that includes managing hazardous waste and air quality emissions, including benzene and formaldehyde.

We call on Mesa County Commissioners to:

-Deny the Astera Fruita Project’s Proposal.
-Enforce zoning laws and reject the use of agricultural land for inconsistent industrial purposes.
-Ensure corporate interests do not override community well-being.

We urge Mesa County officials and the CDPHE to stand with the Western Slope residents and not an out-of-state company using experimental technology, by denying permits for this facility, including the County conditional use permit. 

Sign this petition today to protect Mesa County’s rural integrity, land and public health.