Attorney General Becerra Submits Comment Under CEQA on Inland Star Distribution Facility in City of Carson

Facility currently operates in Carson without necessary permits 

SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today, in his oversight role under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), submitted comments on the City of Carson’s attempt to approve land use permits for the Inland Star Distribution Center, a chemical storage facility. The Inland Star facility – which has operated illegally without land use permits for more than four years – stores toxic and flammable chemicals for third party manufacturers and distributors throughout Southern California and the American Southwest. Additionally, the risks posed by the facility reach residential communities, including children at Del Amo Elementary School. In the letter, Attorney General Becerra warns the city against approval of the permits for the project without a comprehensive environmental review to analyze and mitigate risks to the population of Carson.

“For years, the Inland Star Facility has operated illegally less than a half-mile from an elementary school,” said Attorney General Becerra. “Despite Inland Star’s long history of ignoring local operation and safety requirements, the City of Carson is attempting to fast track permit approval for a project that endangers its residents. The children of Carson, like all children in California, are entitled to learn, play, grow and thrive in a safe and healthy environment. Carson’s families deserve to know that their civic leaders are looking out for them.”

The City of Carson is seeking to permit the operation of the facility based on a limited Mitigated Negative Declaration (Negative Declaration), rather than a full Environmental Impact Report as required by CEQA. In the comment letter, Attorney General Becerra warns the city against permitting the facility, which could endanger residents, without a comprehensive environmental review. The letter strongly urges the city to conduct a review that discloses, analyzes, and fully mitigates the environmental impacts of the project on the community.

Attorney General Becerra’s comment letter outlines a number of concerns about the Inland Star facility, including its failure to receive proper permits prior to commencing operation. The letter also expresses concerns about its continued illegal operation, despite the facility’s close proximity to Del Amo Elementary School, where more than 350 young children attend school. A large number of diesel trucks transporting Inland Star’s toxic and flammable products travel to and from the warehouse within a few hundred feet of the school. The warehouse is also close to residential neighborhoods, Dolphin Park, and the city’s corporate yard, which houses first responders.

The comment letter also raises serious concerns about the city’s analysis of risks to the facility’s operation in the event of an earthquake or accident. According to the Negative Declaration, Inland Star stores and distributes up to 393 different types of chemicals, including some that are toxic and flammable such as cyanide and acids. Yet, the Negative Declaration does not disclose the full list of the 393 chemicals. Instead, it analyzes only the ten chemicals Inland Star identified as highest risk. The Negative Declaration further fails to impose sufficient protective measures to safeguard the public in the event of an accident.

Attorney General Becerra urges the city to prepare a full Environmental Impact Report that discloses and mitigates the environmental harms associated with the facility’s operations, as well as the safety risks to the Carson community, which already bears far more than its fair share of pollution. The comment letter makes clear that the analytical rigor and transparency required by CEQA is especially warranted given the nature of Inland Star’s chemical storage operation and its proximity to community members.

CEQA requires that state and local agencies disclose and evaluate the significant environmental impacts of proposed projects and adopt all feasible mitigation measures to reduce or eliminate those impacts. The Attorney General, in his independent capacity, occupies a special role in overseeing and enforcing CEQA. Since the statute’s beginnings, the Attorney General has filed public comment letters alerting local agencies to potential violations of CEQA, filed and intervened in lawsuits, entered into settlements, and submitted amicus – or friend of the court – briefs in significant appellate cases. 

A copy of the letter can be found here.