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| Source: Inland Ports of Southern California – Warehouses, Distribution Centers, Intermodal Facilities Impacts, Costs and Trends , Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice |
The battle over warehouses in the city of Moreno Valley, California has entered a new phase, with the announcement that Riverside County will sue the city over its approval of the “largest single industrial development project in California’s history” – a proposed 3,000 acre mega-warehouse complex, the World Logistics Center.
The purpose of the lawsuit is to compel the city to deal with traffic and health problems that will be caused by the congestion and air pollution generated by the more than 14,000 truck and 54,000 car trips the warehouse complex is expected to generate.
Moreno Valley seems like it could be the locale for a new blockbuster TV series – with warehousing the unlikely subject. It has all the ingredients – corruption, intrigue, the biggest bribe the FBI ever paid to a public official in a sting operation, a huge development project, and lots of money – set in the exotic semi-arid Inland Empire.
But, it’s deadly serious, with high air pollution levels, asthma hospital visits, and other health impacts which will almost certainly get worse if the complex is built.
Air pollution from freight transportation projects like this, unlike most other industrial facilities, is not regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Moving Forward Network is working to change that. To learn more about our requests to the EPA to protect the public from this huge source of air pollution and health problems, please visit the Zero Emissions Campaign.
To learn more about his project, read the latest news stories below, or background that follows: