The Barstow City Council this week signed off on initiating and accelerating the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Barstow International Gateway undertaking.
The project is to entail an investment of more than $1.5 billion by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway to construct what is characterized as a “state-of-the-art master-planned rail facility” at one of the key railroad choke points in Southern California and what Burlington Northern Santa Fe calls “the first being developed by a Class 1 railroad.” The Barstow International Gateway will be developed as a “new integrated rail facility” on an approximately 4,500-acre site new integrated rail facility on the west side of Barstow. It is to be an intermodal facility that coordinates the distribution of cargo by both train and trucks, and will involve the construction of warehouses for transloading freight from international containers to domestic containers.
The facility will allow the direct transfer of containers from ships at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to trains for transport through the Alameda Corridor onto the Burlington Northern Santa Fe mainline up to Barstow.
Once the containers reach the Barstow International Gateway, they will be processed at the facility using cargo-handling equipment powered by clean energy, and then staged and built into trains moving east via Burlington Northern Santa Fe’s network across the nation. Westbound freight will similarly be processed at the facility to more efficiently bring trains to the ports and other California terminals.
As a population center, Barstow has always existed as a railroad town, such that from the late 1890s into the 1950s, it existed as the sixth largest of what was then the county’s eleven cities. Since that time, its relative size among what are now the county’s 24 cities has diminished, such that it stands at the 20th largest among all of the county’s municipalities in terms of population, larger only than Yucca Valley, Grand Terrace, Big Bear Lake and Needles. It is predicted that in order to supply the manpower for operations at the Barstow International Gateway upon its full build-out, the population in Barstow will more than double its current 24,694 population to transform it into what would likely be the county’s 15th or 16th largest city.
The project site is generally north of Main Street, between Hinkley and Lenwood roads.
The project generated controversy – true controversy – over whether it represents an environmental/health hazard to the city and nearby residents or, in a larger analysis, an alleviation of adverse ecological impacts. It is acknowledged that the project will – as a consequence of the sheer volume of logistics activity the facility is to entail – result in an increase in adverse impacts on air quality through the greater use of diesel fuel and consequent nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions and the release of volatile organic compounds. Offsetting that, however, is that Burlington Northern Santa Fe is going to utilize electrically-powered loading and offloading equipment at the site that will not emit exhaust and the intent and design of the entire facility is to efficientize the distribution of cargo in a way that will draw down the regional generation of pollutants.
A testimony to the overall conceptual advantages of the facility in terms of reducing environmental impacts of the movement of massive amounts of goods from foreign sources arriving at California’s ports to then be transported by rail eastward across the state and beyond is that Governor Gavin Newsom certified the Barstow International Gateway as the initial transportation-related infrastructure project to meet the goals of 2023’s Senate Bill 149’s Clean Energy and Infrastructure Streamlining Mandate, which was intended to accelerate the development of critical infrastructure projects while maintaining rigorous environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act. In statements that sounded as if they had been formulated by a shared spokesperson, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the City of Barstow and the governor’s office state the Barstow facility will accelerate California toward critical infrastructure projects that advance the goals of California’s Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure.
According to Newsom’s office, all told, the amount of private investment in the Barstow International Gateway by Burlington Northern Santa Fe and other corporations involved in the project will pump $4 billion into the California economy over the next decade, will substantially reduce traffic and logistics congestion on roadways, highways and communities immediately adjacent to the state’s ports, will ensure and improve supply chain reliability while transitioning the state to a zero-emission freight system and will have the positive effect of shifting the transfer of massive amounts of freight from heavy-duty trucks to rail, alleviating the gridlock and intensive use and deterioration on both California’s and the nation’s highways.
According to Burlington Northern Santa Fe, products, materials and finished goods contained in standard 40-foot shipping containers are offloaded from ships at California’s ports, in particular in San Diego, Long Beach and San Pedro, they are hauled away by semi-trucks to warehouses in the greater Los Angeles area and the Inland Empire. Those containers are then unloaded, classified and reloaded onto 53-foot domestic containers, which are either transported via truck to a railyard and transferred onto a train headed for their eventual destinations throughout the country or, in the alternative, transported by another semi-truck to its destination. According to Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the creation of the huge logistics center at Barstow represents a more streamlined, more efficient, less costly and less environmentally damaging means of getting goods to where they need to go.
The Barstow International Gateway will coordinate intermodal transportation – meaning the blending of transport by train and by trucks – in a way that will reduce pollution, redundancy, backtracking and costs, simultaneously limiting truck and freeway congestion through substituting straight through rail transport that replaces over 795,000 truck trips per year, according to Burlington Northern Santa Fe. By locating the logistics coordination assets in Barstow, approximately 20,000 new jobs in the immediate vicinity of Barstow will be created, according to project proponents.
Among the project’s features is a 140-acre solar farm, multiple rooftop solar warehouses, solar rail yard canopies and other related infrastructure. The renewable energy derived in this way will be used to created in this way will allow for the project’s vaunted zero-emission freight handling and transferring system at the rail yard.
Beyond the $1.5 billion that Burlington Northern Santa Fe will expend on the project, it is anticipated that another $9.5 billion in investment in infrastructure, public improvements, warehousing and other building will take place in order to service or articulate with the activity at the facility over the next decade-and-a-half.
Based on the foreseeable activity that the facility itself will entail together with economic activity that will spring off it, Barstow and its environs will see something on the order of a $7.85 billion infusion of spending into the community in the decades moving forward, those enthusiastic about the proposal maintain.
The difference in property tax revenue the city will realize as a consequence of the improvements to the 4,500 acres, which will be paid out by Burlington Northern Santa Fee will benefit the Barstow Unified School District, Barstow Community College, and the city. According to the city, that increase in property tax to the city will allow it to hire nine police officers and 12 firefighters.
There was some concern in the community that the downside of the project – impacts on air quality as well as transportation infrastructure – will outweigh the benefits.
The environmental impact report acknowledges that at least 20 more diesel-powered locomotives will travel into Barstow on a daily basis once the project is up and running.
Some residents wanted a more in depth environmental impact report than was prepared for the project to be undertaken, as a consequence of the project, Burlington Northern Santa Fe in Barstow alone will see its consumption of diesel fuel increased by 3 million gallons per year, which, as it is burned, will result in at least 600 tons of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide and 1,665 tons of carbon monoxide being released into the air along with 345 tons of volatile organic compounds. According to the report, those impacts will not be mitigated.
The Sierra Club asserted the health effects on the local population will be real and devastating.
Brad Poiriez, the executive director of the Victor Valley Air Quality Management District, without critical comment one way or the other acknowledged that the environmental impact report for the project acknowledged the unavoidable impacts of the project on local air quality. He mentioned the general plan update that is being pursued by the city but which does not directly address or stipulate actual, substantial or even partial mitigation of the impacts. Poiriez tacitly expressed the district’s resignation to the fact that the project and its economic benefits to the community will come at an environmental cost, as was evinced by the statement of overriding considerations that was ultimately adopted by the city council in approving the project. .
“The district concurs with the analysis and findings for the general plan update and the Barstow International Gateway project as presented in these documents,” Poiriez said, referencing the environmental impact report and the general plan amendment, mitigation, monitoring and reporting program agreement and the statement of overriding considerations. He indicated that the city had opted in favor of approving the project rather than insisting upon environmental protections that would have rendered the project to expensive to pursue. “From the district’s perspective, the city has required and Burlington Northern Santa Fe has agreed to implement all feasible air quality mitigation measures.”
The environmental impact report prepared for the project which was funded by Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Barstow and BNSF referenced environmental concerns, but did not adequately address or mitigate them, according to the Sierra Club claimed.
During her comments, During the public comment period prior to the council’s vote, resident Sherry Bailey lamented that city officials were opting out of protecting the homeowners, residents and children living in the area along Sylvan Avenue near the project. Resident Ryan Calbreath said there was an “unholy alliance between Wall Street, BNSF, the real estate sector here, and the local politicians, who are acting as their puppets” to saddle the Barstow community with the project.
Construction union members spoke in favor of the project.
The council’s vote relating to the project included a finding that the project was within the parameters permitted under the California Environmental Quality Act; in accordance with the city’s revamped general plan and a change in the city’s zoning map, which was adopted consequent to the vote; that all reasonable mitigation measures were being pursued; that overriding economic considerations dictated that the project proceed despite its unavoidable impacts; and that mitigation monitoring and reporting relating to the project take place. By the vote, the council also created business park and high density residential zone districts while eliminating one of the city’s medium density residential zone district and one of the city’s estate residential zone districts.
In her report to the city council relating to the project proposal, City Manager Department Rochelle Clayton wrote, “The proposed city approval actions conclude more than three years of planning, environmental review, and extensive public outreach. The updated general plan will accommodate a projected 2048 City population of 52,833 and support the creation of approximately 25,235 jobs. The Barstow International Gateway will generate 5,400 direct jobs in the City of Barstow and is expected to generate over 15,000 jobs statewide at full build-out. Together, these initiatives will modernize land use policies, expand housing opportunities, and provide the infrastructure necessary to support Barstow’s vision for sustainable growth. Approval of the recommended resolutions and ordinances will enable annexation of key areas, adoption of updated zoning and development standards, and execution of agreements critical to the project’s implementation. While the environmental impact report identifies certain significant and unavoidable impacts, the proposed statement of overriding considerations explains that the Barstow International Gateway project’s economic, social, and environmental benefits outweigh these impacts, leading staff to recommend city council approval.”
The approval of the project, Clayton said would “allow the applicant to build the Barstow International Gateway project; pay all city costs incurred in processing the application and implementing the project; pay the city’s applicable development impact fees, as agreed to the development agreement; fund infrastructure improvements citywide; fund the purchase of a new ladder truck for the Barstow Fire Protection District; and to meet all other city requirements.”
With response to the unavoidable environmental impacts of the project, Clayton stated, “Several commenters focused on diesel emissions and public health. Commenters questioned whether the final environmental impact report adequately analyzed diesel consumption, cancer risk, particulate matter, and cumulative health impacts, and several requested zero-emission measures including electric rail operations, catenary infrastructure (i.e., electric overhead wire to power trains), electric yard equipment, and electric cranes. Each of these measures was evaluated in the environmental impact report and deemed infeasible. The project results in significant and unavoidable air quality impacts, including a mitigated cancer risk of approximately 40 in one million for nearby residents that exceeds the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District threshold. This is in contrast to the 1 in 4 cancer risk experienced by the general population. A regional health impact analysis found the broader effect on health outcomes across the air basin is not statistically meaningful. The city has adopted all feasible mitigation measures.”
Clayton then sought to minimize widespread concern about the project increasing local diesel fuel usage. “Several commenters raised concerns the Barstow International Gateway project would increase diesel fuel consumption by 3 million gallons due to an update reflected by the Final environmental impact report errata. Staff clarified that this claim is not accurate. Diesel fuel use was fully analyzed and disclosed in the air quality and greenhouse gas analyses in the draft environmental impact report, and those analyses have not changed. The update to the energy section in the final environmental impact report errata was made solely to ensure consistency with the air quality and greenhouse gas analyses. No new information was introduced and no environmental findings were revised. The initial energy analysis in the draft environmental impact report was conservative and took credit only for reductions in diesel fuel consumption from truck miles traveled within California, which is appropriate under the California Environmental Quality Act. However, as disclosed in the draft environmental impact report, the Barstow International Gateway would also remove hundreds of millions of truck miles traveled nationally. When those national reductions are accounted for, the project still results in a net reduction of between 20 and 30 million gallons of diesel fuel consumption. Because the change was made to ensure consistency across the final environmental impact report and and the environmental findings remain unchanged, recirculation of the environmental impact report is not required.”
Clayton further offered a justification for not requiring wholesale zero-emission technology throughout the project.
“Multiple commenters requested full electrification of the rail corridor as a project alternative or mitigation measure,” Clayton wrote. “Technical studies determined full rail electrification is currently infeasible under the California Environmental Quality Act, costing between $1 billion and $9 billion and taking up to 20 or more years to construct. Battery electric locomotives are not commercially available for long-distance heavy-haul operations. In addition, as noted above, the regional health impact analysis deemed that the broader effect on health outcomes across the air basin is not statistically meaningful. Thus, there is no legal or evidentiary justification for electrification.
Incorporating mitigation that would protect the Sylvan Avenue neighborhood from air pollution impacts was not possible, according to Clayton. The best the city could do in this regard was to “mitigate to the extent feasible the impacts to the Sylvan Community,” she said, which was inadequate to the task, given the expense of doing anything approaching that goal.
Clayton said that in evaluating “economic benefits vs. environmental costs,” the financial reward to the city won out. “Supporters consistently emphasized the project’s economic promise,” she wrote. “The project is projected to generate 25,881 construction period jobs and approximately 15,673 total jobs by 2048, along with substantial state and local tax revenues. Barstow Community Hospital submitted a letter of support highlighting the Barstow International Gateway project’s potential to stimulate local businesses and support essential public services.”
The council vote 5-to-0 to approve the project.
-Mark Gutglueck