Vallejo residents, activists, business owners and city officials all agree the city's economy needs a shot in the arm.
Dozens of protestors gathered in front of Vallejo’s City Hall for a news conference held by the Solano County Sierra Club to voice their objections to the construction of a proposed “green” cement facility on the Vallejo waterfront and the establishment of an international deep-water shipping hub to receive the raw materials. The local chapter of the Sierra Club formally announced its opposition to the project at the event. Photo by Joel Williams
By Bill Picture
Published: October, 2016
Vallejo residents, activists, business owners and city officials all agree the city’s economy needs a shot in the arm. What they disagree about is exactly how that shot should be administered.
The city was dealt a blow 20 years ago when the Mare Island Naval Shipyard went dark, and city officials are now looking to a proposed waterfront project to help Vallejo regain its financial footing. That proposal calls for building a “green” cement facility on waterfront acreage that once housed a flour mill, as well as the establishment of an international deep-water shipping hub to receive the raw materials needed for the cement.
But some area residents say that, no matter how environmentally friendly the cement’s manufacturer claims its product is, how many jobs the project promises to create or how much tax revenue it might generate, the idea is bad for the environment, bad for public health and bad for Vallejo.
Cement-maker Orcem California and privately-owned Vallejo Marine Terminal LLC (VMT) are the driving forces behind the project. Orcem’s green cement is made largely from the recycled byproduct of the steel-making process. When added to traditional cement, which requires an enormous amount of energy to produce, it thereby theoretically reduces the mixture’s overall carbon footprint. The cement industry is one of the world’s largest producers of greenhouse gases.
“In Orcem’s mind, adding their cement means less regular cement has to be made or used,” said Peter Brooks of Fresh Air Vallejo. “The problem is, their main ingredient is coming from steel mills in Asia. So when you factor in the long trip it has to make to get here, their green cement isn’t so green anymore.”
Brooks is also concerned about the potential health risks posed by exposure to the “slag,” as the main ingredient is called. “There will be huge piles of this stuff sitting out in the open on a windy point at the edge of the San Francisco Bay,” he says. “Does that sound safe to you?”
Brooks points to already poor air quality in the underserved neighborhood at whose doorstep the proposed site sits. South Vallejo already has some of the highest rates of asthma in the state. “Hasn’t this community paid its toxic dues?” he says. “The last thing they need is more industry dumped on them.”
Orcem did not respond to a request for a comment on the proposed Vallejo project, but representatives have made it clear they believe saying “no” to the project would be hitting a city when it’s already down.
Earlier this year, Orcem CEO Steven Bryan told the San Francisco Chronicle: “Our project, along with the terminal, brings back life to the waterfront of Vallejo. It brings in good union jobs, businesses will want to be in close proximity to us and we will generate income for a city that needs money for cops and roads and everything else. Our project would be a sign that Vallejo is open for business.”
Actions speak louder than words
A draft environmental impact report was released in September 2015. Citizen groups, environmental organizations and regional agencies claimed there were major holes in the report’s findings, and angry opponents have since packed several community meetings to voice their concerns.
An Environmental Justice Analysis followed in April of this year. The report found the project would not place a disproportionate burden on the minority and/or low-income populations living nearby, but critics argued the findings were flawed because the analysis failed to take into account already-existing air pollution.
Among the laundry list of concerns raised over the last year is the absence of a plan to provide ship-to-shore power at the proposed terminal. Without it, ships berthed at the terminal would need to run their engines in order to have power, resulting in diesel emissions.
Also of concern were emissions from trucks and trains servicing the new shipping terminal. At first, the terminal would receive only the incoming slag for Orcem’s green cement. But eventually, VMT’s goal is to establish Vallejo as a major transit point for bulk and break-bulk commodities making their way in and out of the country.
South Vallejo resident Pat Dodson told the Earth Island Journal, “The trucks will be three blocks from my house, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They’re going to kill everything out here—the trees, the grass, the wildlife, the fish in the sea—us!” The proposal was recently amended to limit hours for trucks to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Joe Feller of the Solano Group, a chapter of the Sierra Club, says he’s concerned about what other materials might eventually move through the terminal. “My fear is that a coal project is being dressed in a green coat,” he said. “Seattle and Oakland both decided not to allow coal to move through their ports. Are we the coal industry’s Plan C? Industry says ‘no,’ but I’m not so sure. Once they’ve established port status, there’s nothing on the federal books to stop them from doing that.”
Orcem and VMT’s seemingly good intentions were further questioned when a plan to establish a $1 million community benefits program benefiting South Vallejo nonprofits was announced as Vallejoans wait for a final version of the environmental impact report and Vallejo’s Planning Commission prepares to weigh in on the project. Both are expected to happen before the end of the year.
Blaise Fettig, principal of VMT, told the Vallejo Times Herald, “We are very excited about the opportunity to provide support to the Vallejo community. Once we establish our new state of-the-art marine terminal and Orcem develops their new green cement milling operation at the ex-General Mills site, we will have the opportunity to be able to give back to the community in a meaningful way.”
What raised eyebrows were the conditions of the partners’ good deed. South Vallejo only gets the money if the city greenlights the project. If the proposal is rejected, the money is off the table. Naturally, opponents were outraged by what they perceived as the dangling of a $1 million carrot in front of a community badly in need of help. Fresh Air Vallejo’s Peter Brooks told the Times Herald, “Where were these offers of job training, and community services a year ago?”
The plot further thickened when reports surfaced that Orcem CEO Steven Bryan let it slip during a town hall-style meeting at an African-American church that Orcem and VMT had been meeting privately with members of the city council for almost two years to move the plan along. Earth Island Journal reported that documents obtained by community groups via the Freedom of Information Act allegedly revealed that a state law prohibiting secret government meetings had been skirted by keeping the number of elected officials who attended just under the legal limit.
But wait, there’s more
Four city council seats are up for grabs next month, and sources say that to ensure Orcem/VMT isn’t used as a political tool that might threaten the project’s chances of approval, candidates, as well as existing council members, were advised by Vallejo City Attorney Claudia Quintana not to speak about the project.
When asked whether city council members and candidates had been advised not to talk about the Orcem/VMT project, Quintana replied in an email: “Normally, councilpersons wait until the public hearing on the matter to hear the description of the project and consider all materials presented, before making definitive statements of approval or denial on a project.”
“That’s ridiculous,” said Feller. “How can you be running for city council and not address a major issue?”
One current city council candidate has spoken publicly on the project. At a September 14 news conference held by the Solano County Sierra Club, Liat Meitzenheimer said, “Once a decision is made, you can’t go back. A lot of our people that live in the city don’t really pay attention to the decisions that are being made by the policy makers. And they don’t understand the impact until it’s actually too late. This one project can have an impact for the next 65 years.” She added, “This is our waterfront, it’s our most protected and valuable property that we have in Vallejo. We have an obligation to make sure that we have the fullest and the best use for the waterfront.”
“What we want is simple,” said Fresh Air Vallejo’s Brooks. “We want a waterfront that we are proud of, not one that hurts us. The Sperry Mill is a landmark. It symbolizes the entrance to the Napa Valley, and it should be saved and repurposed the way they did in Sacramento and Napa.”
Or as Meitzenheimer put it, “We want to make sure that the waterfront is always there for the people, not for corporations.”
For more information on the Orcem/VMT Project, visit www.orcem.com/vallejo_project.html and www.vallejomarineterminal.com. Fresh Air Vallejo’s website in opposition to the project is freshairvallejo.com.
