Both sides are claiming victory after a judge halted construction of a massive warehouse project in San Bernardino County until an updated environmental study is done.  The lawsuit ruling by San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Donald Alvarez found fault with the Bloomington Business Park’s environmental impact report, a key document required for the 213-acre project that would add 2.1 million square feet of warehouses to a rural unincorporated area. The 100-page ruling issued Tuesday, Sept. 17, forbids the project’s developer and the county “from taking any action to construct the project” until the county complies with the California Environmental Quality Act, which establishes rules and standards the report must meet. A coalition of environmental groups hailed Alvarez’s decision. View this document on Scribd “For Bloomington residents, living so dangerously close to warehouses has been a nightmare and this ruling shows that the court listened,” Frances Tinney, an attorney for one of the lawsuit’s plaintiffs, the Arizona-headquartered Center for Biological Diversity, said via email. Candice Youngblood, attorney for another plaintiff, the environmental law organization Earthjustice, said in a news release that “the court’s decision is crystal clear: San Bernardino County wronged the Bloomington community in the approval of this project.” “The county and the developer will need to fix the serious defects that underpinned the decision to cram more warehouses so close to schools and residences,” Youngblood added. “Bloomington has consistently been targeted by polluting, industrial projects, and this decision recognizes the community’s struggle for their health.” Ana Gonzalez, executive director of the Jurupa Valley-based Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, said via email: “We … are happy, relieved, and inspired by the court’s decision. This ruling not only underscores the legal oversights of the county and developers but also validates the community’s relentless advocacy against this destructive plan.” But Mike Tunney, vice president — development for developer Howard Industrial Partners, said in a news release that the ruling requires only “minor revisions” to the report “which the County will quickly address in a recirculated (report).” The judge also upheld the report’s “analysis of traffic impacts, environmental justice, cumulative impacts and language access provisions,” Tunney said. “We are committed to making the necessary adjustments to address the issues identified by the Court,” Tunney said, later adding: “We continue to look forward to fulfilling our very significant commitments to the Bloomington community.” Howard plans to appeal part of the ruling threatening a “major” flood control project “which is already under construction to prevent ongoing flooding that has negatively impacted the community for decades,” Tunney said. San Bernardino County spokesperson David Wert declined comment “as the matter remains under active litigation.” Approved by San Bernardino County supervisors in 2022, the project would add three warehouses to the Inland Empire, a region labeled “America’s Shopping Cart” by one study for its estimated 1 billion square feet of warehouses supporting a logistics industry connecting the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with doorsteps and shopping aisles nationwide. Logistics employs thousands and is credited with helping the Inland economy rebound from the coronavirus pandemic. Critics counter that the industry is responsible for worsening the region’s notoriously poor quality through diesel truck emissions and locking workers into low-paying, back-breaking careers threatened by warehouse automation. Bloomington is a predominantly working-class Latino community of 23,000 off the 10 Freeway and south of Fontana and Rialto. The project is expected to demolish more than 100 homes and an elementary school. A replacement school would be built, displaced homeowners got money to relocate and a zoning change at a nearby 72-acre site would allow 480 apartments or condominiums to be built on land that had been zoned for 52 single-family homes. Howard also agreed to pay $39 million for street infrastructure improvements, $30 million for flood control measures and $1.1 million a year into a fund to bolster police coverage in Bloomington, according to San Bernardino County. The project is expected to create more than 3,200 permanent local jobs and more than 5,400 construction jobs, county figures show. The developer also will spend $45 million to rebuild Zimmerman Elementary School in a new location. That’s little solace to critics, who argue those figures hide the true cost of disrupting Bloomington’s residents and rural character and adding more truck traffic and diesel exhaust to Inland roads and skies. The lawsuit, filed in December 2022, challenged the environmental impact report, alleging it failed to adequately address the project’s effects on air quality, noise and wildlife, among other areas. Project documents weren’t provided in Spanish, and the project will worsen greenhouse gas emissions — linked to climate change — while violating fair housing laws, the lawsuit alleged. Related Articles News | Postal workers are loving the new USPS delivery vehicle — and it’s not just the air conditioning News | EPA OKs rule to slash pollution from warehouse-bound trucks News | Inland Empire must take these steps as big trucks ditch diesel, study says News | Bill separating warehouses from homes, schools passes California Legislature News | Last-ditch legislative effort aims to separate homes from new warehouses In his ruling, Alvarez found San Bernardino County “failed to analyze a reasonable range of (project) alternatives.” He also took issue with elements of the report’s analysis of what the project would do to air quality, noise and greenhouse gas emissions. “The court denies the (lawsuit) on all other grounds raised,” Alvarez wrote. “Given the nature of the (environmental quality act) violations, the court orders the County to set aside certification of (the report) and related approvals.” While happy with the ruling, those representing the plaintiffs said their work isn’t done. “This decision is just the beginning in a long fight for justice for Bloomington, the residents no longer with us, and our kids who shouldn’t have to be worried about their future here,” said Alondra Mateo, an organizer with another plaintiff, the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice in Grand Terrace.