To: Visalia City Council
From: Golden State Environmental Justice Alliance
Subject: Shirk and Riggin Annexation MND
CalEnviroScreen 4.0 Information
CalEnviroScreen is a mapping tool that helps identify California communities that are most affected by many sources of pollution, and where people are often especially vulnerable to pollution’s effects. CalEnviroScreen uses environmental, health, and socioeconomic information to produce scores for every census tract in the state. The scores are mapped so that different communities can be compared. An area with a high score is one that experiences a much higher pollution burden than areas with low scores. CalEnviroScreen ranks communities based on data that are available from state and federal government sources. CalEnviroScreen is updated and maintained by The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, on behalf of the California Environmental Protection Agency.
CalEnviroScreen Data on Shirk and Riggin Annexation Project MND Location/Area
The above listed project sits in census tract 6107001003. Overall, when compared to other census tracts, the project site census tract is in the 74th percentile regarding pollution. As far as pollution burden is concerned, this census tract is in the 99th percentile. In terms of Ozone , this census tract is in the 91st percentile, Particulate Matter 2.5 98th percenti le, Diesel Particulate Ma tter 55th percentile, Toxic Releases 99th percentile and Traffic 28th percentile.
Conclusion
Consider the above referenced information when making this important decision. Realize that you and the citizens of this area face some of the WORST POLLUTION in the entire state of California.
It is the responsibility of the City’s elected and appointed officials to make environmentally responsible development decisions. Based on the CalEnviroScreen data, this is more than sufficient evidence of the further air quality impacts that the citizenry of Visalia and its surrounding area will continue to encounter with further development of another warehouse /distribution center . We are not against development, as we believe it is necessary for further economic growth in our current society. Development needs to be conducted with the highest of expectations to ensure the local population does not suffer further air quality burdens.
We stand by our comments and believe the MND is flawed and full Environmental Impact report should be drafted and circulated for public review.
Respectfully Submitted,
Pete Sheehan
Pete Sheehan
GSEJA
Source - https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/report/calenviroscreen-40
Glossary of Terms
Ozone - Amount of daily maximum 8-hour Ozone concentration
Particulate Matter 2.5 - Annual mean PM 2.5 concentrations
Diesel Particulate Matter - Diesel PM emissions from on‐road and non‐road sources
Toxic Releases - Toxicity‐weighted concentrations of modeled chemical releases to air from
facility emissions and off‐site incineration.
Traffic -Traffic density, in vehicle‐kilometers per hour per road length, within 150 meters of the census tract boundary.