Pomona council delays action on transfer station environmental study

Pomona Unified School District representatives asked the City Council this week to delay a vote on an environmental document associated with the proposed construction of a trash transfer station on East First Street.

District representatives asked the City Council to hold off on taking action in order to give Pomona Unified time to review the document and prepare a response.

Council members agreed to postpone the matter until April. The council was expected to rule upon a final supplemental environmental impact report for the proposed transfer station to be constructed on 4.5 acres of city-owned property at 1730 E. First St.

In addition, the council postponed a vote on a proposed resolution certifying the environmental document and voting on conditional use permit modifications for the project.

In 2007 city leaders authorized a conditional use permit for the construction of a waste transfer station on the property. However, the Coalition for Environmental Justice in Pomona sought court action, according to a city staff report.

A Superior Court judge required the city to complete a supplemental environmental study that concentrated on alternatives to the project, air pollution, freeway traffic impacts and groundwater, the staff report said.

Several people spoke during the meeting including residents who are concerned about having the waste facility nearby. Others who spoke included teachers and parents of students who are enrolled in programs at the Village at Indian Hill which is north or the proposed project site.

Pomona Unified Superintendent Richard Martinez said the proposed project is in the neighborhood of the Village at Indian Hill which is home to several district schools with about 1,500 students.