Dear Editor,

We woke this morning to dogs alerting on traffic backed up on State Highway 119. The tree mitigation project on Boulder Canyon, which is fourteen miles of cutting down and chipping the remains of pine trees killed by magnesium chloride courtesy of CDOT, is run by Asplundh. Their traffic safety company, AWP, is supposed to provide support so that vehicles don’t crash into each other or run over tree workers.

  You would think a company as a traffic safety type would provide public sanitation to its outdoor workers. Not. There is a van, we were told, that is supposed to deliver employees-in-need to a bathroom facility, somewhere, in this 13-mile stretch of wilderness.

  As my husband walked out to let the dogs manage their own biological needs, he witnessed a woman tending to hers on our driveway. After he called out to her, she waved him off and walked up to the top of our driveway, lit up a cigarette with a fellow employee, and exhaled.

 There are Stage 1 Fire Restrictions in the mountains west of Boulder. You would think the company would’ve notified its employees of this law.

 We also haven’t seen any sign of public sanitation facilities since this job began two weeks ago. With 12 miles of tree cutting remaining, Boulder Canyon residents can expect routine drop-ins of AWP employees to drop other things on their property until the job is complete at summer’s end. They should also know the whereabouts of their fire extinguishers, as no one has apparently informed the employees that residents take Stage 1 Fire Restrictions seriously.

  Deep sigh. No wonder people hate corporations who have obviously chinsed-out on proper staffing and providing employees with the basics of where to go to the bathroom.

Denise Boehler

Nederland