Susan Riemer’s article: “County targets stockpiles of asphalt millings” is a good example of corrupt leftist government (Sept. 6)

Forty years ago Vashon’s highways were chip-sealed every other year. The process built up the pavement layer and maintained a flat smooth surface. In those days you could roller skate on the highways.

Back in the early 1980s, just about the time King County started operating metro buses on Vashon, chip-sealing was discontinued. They peddled fear that toxic run-off would pollute the groundwater.

Every year we get an average of about 40 inches of rain. For every acre that works out to over a million gallons of rainwater. I don’t know how much material actually leaches off a road surface, but it can’t be that much. It then has to percolate through 100 feet or more of soil strata before it ever reaches the water table. There, it mixes with the hundreds of millions of gallons of rainwater from the surrounding acreage.

When King County claims chip-sealing the highways will pollute the groundwater, it’s just a fraudulent excuse to let the roadways crumble. If they’re going to protect us from toxic discharge, they would best crack-down on diesel-powered vehicles. Further, if they ever say they can’t afford to chip-seal the roads, they need to be reminded they’re spending all the money on buses and water taxis.

— Jeff Schnelz