Last month the National City Planning Commission postponed its vote on USD Group’s controversial proposed biofuel transfer station at the request of the California Coastal Commission.
Operating 24/7, this facility would require 72 lung-damaging diesel-polluting oil tankers to drive through National City every day. Making matters worse, the fuel station would be located less than a mile from Kimball Elementary School and Saint Anthony de Padua Church.
On the evening of the postponed vote, National City residents packed the City Council chambers — where the meeting was taking place — and spilled into the overflow lobby.
However, the meeting didn’t last long. The Planning Commission chair announced that the vote was postponed in response to a letter from the Coastal Commission that requested “additional time for our staffs to work together to address the project’s inconsistencies with the city’s Local Coastal Program (LCP) and the Coastal Act.”
The letter from the Coastal Commission outlined multiple concerns with the city’s review of the project so far. Most importantly, the letter read, “the city’s responses to commission staff’s comments regarding environmental justice concerns have been inadequate.”
These are the same environmental justice concerns community members have expressed for more than a year.
The letter continues stating, “the potential negative impacts would be mostly located within a community that is already disproportionally overburdened by heavy pollution.” West National City already breathes more diesel pollution than 90% of communities in California. Diesel pollution is known to cause cancer as well as exacerbate asthma and other respiratory symptoms.
The letter also points out that the city does not propose any mitigation even though it admits the project conflicts with the Air Pollution Control District’s goal to “reduce air pollution and improve health outcomes.” That means the city is not asking the USD Group to take measures that would lessen the harmful impact of the project’s pollution on nearby residents.
Why is city staff recommending the Planning Commission approve a project that will create more lung-damaging diesel pollution? Why isn’t the city asking USD Group to at least take steps to minimize the potential harm to residents’ health?
What we do know is that USD Group has agreed to pay National City $200,000 a year in “economic benefit” for the life of the project. These funds wouldn’t have to be used for clean air or health improvement projects to mitigate the harmful effects of the transfer station. Instead, the money could be used for many other things — even office supplies.
According to Data USA, as of 2023, National City is home to an estimated 55,960 residents. $200,000 divided by 55,960 is just over $3.50. In contrast, it costs an average of $3,725 per year for a person with asthma to manage the condition, according to the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America. Many National City neighborhoods already have an asthma rate that is higher than 85% of communities in California.
Just $3.50 per resident annually is that what city officials seem to think the health of National City residents is worth. Why is the city willing to risk long-term negative health impacts for such a minimal short-term gain?
This is especially egregious because USD Group is anticipating that the fuel transfer station will receive 13,800 barrels of biofuel a day. On average a barrel of biofuel costs $140, per the U.S. Department of Energy. If we do the math, the company will be bringing in nearly $2 million a day while they poison the very air we breathe.
Our health, the health of our families, and the health of Kimball Elementary School shouldn’t have a price tag — it is priceless.
Jose Franco Gracia is the executive director of Environmental Health Coalition and Claire Groebner is the associate director of Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center.
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