LETTER- Why take one firm's opinion?

My home is off Woodlands on the bank of the Rivanna, and I add my name to the list of people who think that the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority should secure a second estimate regarding the cost of reservoir sediment removal. 

 As the Hook has reported, two informal estimates suggest that the dredging cost projection formally provided by the firm that hopes to build the dam may be vastly overstated [News, "Revealing docs: Dredging foes run up the tab." April 17]. That estimator's conflict of interest is glaring, as is its lack of direct experience with dredging. 

With so much money and significant impact on the local environment at stake, it would seem no more than a modest inconvenience to secure a second estimate to test the numbers in the first and to better inform the administrators charged with preserving the welfare of the community– especially when the soil needs at the airport offer such an obvious and sustainable alternative.

Michael Caplin
Albemarle
[email protected]

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