Environmental Groups Sue to Stop Massive Warehouse Project

A group of environmental and wildlife advocacy groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to stop construction of a sprawling shipping depot in Moreno Valley, joining Riverside County and other entities in challenging the project, which opponents argue will worsen air quality and exacerbate traffic congestion.

“To bring this much additional traffic without any mitigation to an area with some of the worst air pollution is criminal,” said Penny Newman, executive director of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. “Thousands of studies have demonstrated that air pollution harms people ... yet this plan has no mitigation measures in place to address these preventable impacts.”

The CCAEJ, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, the San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society and the Coalition for Clean Air jointly filed a civil complaint against Moreno Valley, alleging the World Logistics Center approved last month by the city council poses a “substantial” health risk to people and threatens sensitive animal habitats.

Moreno Valley officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The city also declined to release statements in response to suits filed in the last week by the county, the Riverside County Transportation Commission and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

All of the plaintiffs disagree with the city’s certification of an environmental impact report completed under the California Environmental Quality Act. The parties allege that Moreno Valley has failed to provide adequate mitigation measures to offset the impacts from the 2,600-acre project.

“State Route 60, its overpasses, Gilman Springs Road, as well as roads within Moreno Valley, will become even more clogged and dangerous by the World Logistic Center’s more than 14,000 daily toxic diesel truck trips and 50,000 cars,” said George Hague, conservation chair of Sierra Club’s Moreno Valley Group.

“They are not even willing to agree in writing that they will pay their fair share of improvements to these roads as requested several times by Caltrans, Riverside County Transportation Commission and the residents of Moreno Valley,” he said.

The groups stated that the estimated 400,000 metric tons of emissions produced annually by trucks coming and going from the mega-warehouse and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will not only degrade breathable space for people, but also animals in the nearby San Jacinto Wildlife Area -- home to the California golden eagle, the burrowing owl, tricolored blackbird and the San Jacinto crownscale.

“We don’t need yet another mega-project that makes our air dirtier and our roads more congested,” said Aruna Prabhala, attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s disappointing to see the city ignore the impacts this project will have on the climate, wildlife and local residents. They deserve better.”

The logistics center is slated to occupy space east of Redlands Boulevard, west of Gilman Springs Road and south of the Moreno Valley (60) Freeway.

The county wants the 40.6 million-square-foot project sidelined until Moreno Valley offers solutions to the negative impacts listed in the EIR.

County officials argue that nearly 69,000 vehicle trips per day -- including 14,000 trucks coming and going on a 24-hour basis -- risk significant travel delays on the 60 and Gilman Springs Road, along with a higher volume of pollutants in an area already suffering from poor air quality.

Both the county and AQMD officials said multiple attempts were made to engage Moreno Valley’s leaders before resorting to civil action, but there was no response.

The developer, Highland Fairview, has hailed the estimated $2.5 billion in annual economic activity the project will generate.

According to supporters, it would create roughly 13,000 construction jobs and lead to permanent employment for up to 20,000 workers.

--City News Service, photo via Wiki Commons