BNSF mulls ending California port project

Written by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor
image description
A rendering of the SCIG.
Port of Los Angeles

BNSF is weighing the fate of a planned $500-million intermodal facility following a court ruling last week that questioned the adequacy of the environmental analysis for the project.

 

The March 30 ruling against the environmental analysis of the Southern California International Gateway (SCIG) project, called into question the analysis of air quality, greenhouse gas, noise and traffic impacts and halted project progress until the Port of Los Angeles performs another analysis.

BNSF called the eight-year environmental review exhaustive pointing out that the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR), Recirculated Draft EIR and Final EIR total more than 5,000 pages with an administration record of more than 200,000 pages and cites the courts acknowledgement that “the EIR is an impressive piece of work. It is clear that a great deal of careful thought has been given to the environmental impacts of the project.”

Steve Bobb, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at BNSF, said, “After a thorough review of the ruling, BNSF is troubled by what the decision represents and uncertain whether moving forward with the project is feasible at this time. We will confer with Port of Los Angeles officials, but it is not clear whether or how the project could be built under the framework set by the decision.”

BNSF said the ruling was disappointing and noted it is a major loss for both ports, the local community and the region.

“The ports miss the opportunity to have a green, efficient facility that serves their customers and bolsters their competitiveness, while the community and broader region won’t benefit from the traffic reductions, air quality improvements and good jobs SCIG would have brought. It’s notable that this ruling came just before California’s legislature voted to enact the highest minimum wage in the country, since SCIG would provide family-wage jobs with a solid career path,” the railroad said in a statement.

“With this decision, California sends a clear signal to companies interested in investing in the state that their business isn’t welcome, regardless of how green it will be or how it will support the regional and state economy,” said Bobb, “It sets a chilling precedent for not only the rail industry, but the entire goods movement sector, which employs more than a million Californians.”

BNSF estimates that the SCIG project would have eliminated millions of truck miles from the 710 Freeway each year. BNSF also said part of the initial $500 million project investment included $100 million in green technologies such as electric cranes, ultra-low emission locomotives and solar energy. Additionally, BNSF said it made significant changes to the project’s design and operations in direct response to community feedback. The railroad also committed to allow only clean trucks on designated industrial routes with GPS tracking, support for zero or near-zero emissions technologies, a soundwall, intensive landscaping, a local jobs training program and priority hiring for new jobs to qualified local job applicants.

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