New Haven Register - Large crowd jeers truck school plan: "SEYMOUR — Residents continued to drive home their point Wednesday that a proposed truck driving school in their Pearl Street neighborhood would wreak havoc on their health, cause grave concern for their children’s safety and make them prisoners in their own homes.
Nearly 100 residents turned out for the Planning and Zoning Commission’s public hearing, which was continued from Jan. 11. At press time, the hearing was still going on, and it was not known whether the commission would continue or close the hearing.
Resident Alex Danka opened the hearing by disputing a recent statement made by Vincent Mairano, owner of the All-State Commercial Truck Driving School, who had said in his 25 years of operating the school in Shelton, his facility had been accident-free, and his drivers had never even been ticketed.
Danka played an audiotape of Mairano’s comments made at a previous meeting. Danka then produced accident reports obtained from Shelton police, which showed All-State student drivers had, in fact, had three accidents while training in the big rigs within an 18-month period, from May 2004 to December 2005. ...
A lawyer from the Connecticut Fund for the Environment, Charles Rothenberger, speaking on behalf of the residents, cited several reports which stated "diesel fuel emissions are the No. 1 air toxin risk in the U.S.," and exposure can lead to heart attacks, asthma, cancer and even death, especially in the young and elderly."
