Solano County District 2 Supervisor Monica Brown officially announced her opposition to the Vallejo Marine Terminal/Orcem project, reported the Vallejo Times-Herald. Brown directed a letter to Vallejo’s Planning Commission, which is tentatively scheduled to vote on Feb. 27, asking for the commission to reject the project.
“Having spoken with many of my constituents in south Vallejo, where this cement factory is proposed to be located, I know many residents who will be most impacted by this cement factory,” Brown wrote. “Based on all of the available information, this cement factory would be extremely detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the people of Vallejo. My constituents in south Vallejo will be the most impacted by this cement factory.”
Brown’s list of reasons for the commission to deny the project included “air pollution, traffic congestion, road destruction, noise and many other environmental problems.”
Under a combined project, Vallejo Marine Terminal (VMT) would re-establish industrial uses on the site through the removal of a deteriorated timber wharf and construction of a modern deep-water terminal, while the Orcem California, Inc. component will involve the construction and operation of a “green” cement facility. Orcem would import most of the raw materials it uses via ships docking at the proposed 39-acre VMT wharf.
Orcem Americas President Steve Bryan explained that Brown formed her opinion prior to the release of a final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) – expected to be released within the next month – from the city.
“We believe the project’s final EIR will address all concerns. The EIR impact studies speak for themselves and don’t agree with her opinion,” Bryan told the Times-Herald, in response to Brown’s letter. “We are proud that we have majority support across our community, including in District 2 and the local south Vallejo area.”
Bryan further noted that the project “will create living wage jobs, provide improvements to local infrastructure, provide a green sustainable building alternative to our communities, provide much-needed community benefits including long-term job training. In addition to the union jobs and project labor agreement.”
