Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Lawsuit Challenges Massive Warehouse Project in Napa County

The following is a press release issued by the Center for Biological Diversity:


American Canyon, California in Napa Valley [Picture from WikiCommons]

The Center for Biological Diversity sued American Canyon today for approving a 2.4 million-square-foot warehouse project that would increase air pollution, contribute to the climate crisis, and pave over wetlands and wildlife habitat.

The lawsuit asserts that the city council failed to consider and mitigate the project’s environmental harms when it approved the Giovannoni Logistics Center in March.

“It’s alarming that the city is willing to let an industrial development of this scale take over a biodiversity hotspot without carefully considering the consequences,” said Frances Tinney, an attorney at the Center. “If this warehouse project moves forward, imperiled wildlife will suffer, and so will people. Residents will be dealing with truck traffic and breathing dirtier air for decades to come.”

The Giovannoni Logistics Center, if built, is expected to generate 21,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution and more than 200,000 truck trips each year. Today’s lawsuit states that the city did not consider and mitigate the harms of the project’s 6 million miles of annual truck traffic. American Canyon already has the highest pollution burden in Napa County, and residents suffer more pollutant exposure than 73% of the state.

The project would also degrade more than 200 acres of undisturbed land, including 4 acres of wetlands, that serve as habitat for many animal and plant species. The site is home to the California red-legged frog, the western pond turtle and other sensitive species while serving as foraging habitat for the state threatened Swainson’s hawk and the federally protected golden eagle.

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The lawsuit, filed in Napa County Superior Court, alleges that the city violated the California Environmental Quality Act by approving the warehouse project without an adequate environmental review.

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MendoFever Staff
MendoFever Staff
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