RESIDENTS PROTEST PIPELINE PLAN
New Leaf says it would cut truck traffic; Barrio Logan residents worry plant will gain firmer hold in neighborhood
Barrio Logan residents are once again saying something smells about a controversial biodiesel plant in their neighborhood, as its operators present new construction plans to the community.
Residents voiced concerns about the New Leaf Biofuel facility in October, saying “vomit-like” odors coming from the facility were making them sick.
Now, four months after regulators with the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District ordered the plant to immediately start mitigating the odors, the company wants to build an underground pipeline to connect its warehouses.
New Leaf officials say the goal is to cut down on truck traffic from one part of the plant to another in a neighborhood choked with diesel pollution.
However, residents opposed to the project say more construction will only further cement the facility’s place in the community.
“New Leaf Biofuel has proven itself to be a bad neighbor,” said Nicholas Paul, an air quality advocate with the Environmental Health Coalition. “We do not want this business to … invest in infrastructure that’s going to keep them in the neighborhood for many more years to come.”
New Leaf Biofuel, which opened on Newton Avenue near Main Street about 15 years ago, is an industrial business that runs 24/7 converting used cooking oil into biodiesel.
Burning renewable diesel or biodiesel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 85 percent compared with petroleum diesel, according to the California Air Resources Board.
As of December, New Leaf officials say the company has recycled more than 30 million gallons of cooking oil into biodiesel, avoiding more than 300,000 metric tons of carbon — equivalent to removing 68,000 cars
from the road.
But a byproduct of processing the cooking oil into biofuel is the strong, bitter odor nearby residents said they could smell from their homes.
In December, the company completed the installation of an odor-reducing system as mandated by the county Air Pollution Control District, including industrial-grade filtration and ventilation equipment approved by county air quality regulators.
Since then, the district — along with residents — has observed a significant reduction of odors nearly so strong from the facility.
But the stench of broken promises remains.
On Wednesday, at a monthly meeting of the Barrio Logan Community Planning Group, spokesperson Jim Bartell unveiled construction plans for a pipeline that New Leaf CEO Jennifer Case says have been years in the making.
The 12-inch pipe would travel under Sicard Street to connect the plant’s cooking oil purification site with the biodiesel manufacturing site across the street, Bartell said during the meeting.
When operating at capacity, the facility currently has about 11 round trips between the properties daily, transporting oil and returning empty to reload. A pipeline would eliminate them, Case said.
He said the company would also make public street improvements, including new pavement, sidewalks, curbs, gutters and four trees.
Once permits are approved, New Leaf officials say construction would last two to three weeks, and per city regulations, the road could be milled and repaved a month later.
‘Not enough’
At last week’s meeting, nearly every seat in the community room was filled as some of the two dozen residents in attendance took turns expressing their concerns about the project.
“Every time one of these projects happens around our community, they always say ‘It’s good for the community,’ but then after all has been said and done, it’s not — it’s good for the people who want to make money,” Peter Colon said.
Lindsay Wynn, who lives on Sicard Street, says however small they may seem, projects like this still disrupt residents’ quality of life. “You’re getting this big pipeline to save money. We’re getting four trees.”
Maria Corral described living across the street from the plant at the Barrio Senior Villas apartment complex as a living nightmare.
For about three years, she couldn’t open her windows or use her patio due to the awful smell, and she worried the fumes would lead to health complications for her husband Roberto, who is in remission from bladder cancer.
Although she says the smell has improved and she can now use her patio, the facility’s operations are still affecting her daily life — and will continue to if the pipeline is installed. “Our golden years are going down, down your pipe, and that’s not fair.”
Brisvana Peralta and her mother, Connie, who run a
preschool nearby, say they haven’t taken the children to a nearby playground in ages. “We haven’t been outside since all this craziness started,” she said.
Board members noted that the project is not consistent with the new Barrio Logan community plan, which was unanimously approved by the City Council in December 2021 and is awaiting approval by the Coastal Commission.
Although the updated community plan will help to ensure no new industrial facilities are permitted in the neighborhood, Bartell said New Leaf is grandfathered in and can keep operating.
However, the updated plan zones the area for residential and commercial, rather than industrial development, planning group chair Julie Corrales added.
Abandoned homes, spilled oil
In recent months, residents have continued to take issue with New Leaf ’s operations.
They’ve been alerting the city to abandoned homes the company bought on Newton
Avenue to use for employee parking. County assessor records indicate New Leaf purchased the 0.8-acre property in September for $560,000, where two homes sit with overgrown front lawns and boarded-up windows and doors.
Paul says residents are upset not only that the facility is expanding into the neighborhood and further depleting its already limited
housing stock, but also that six months after its purchase, the homes are still dilapidated and attracting vermin to nearby homes.
Last month, the county Hazardous Material Incident Team responded to a spill of cooking oil — initial reports indicated about 30 to 40 gallons — from a thirdparty delivery truck on the New Leaf property and onto surrounding streets. Photos taken by residents show streets near the intersection of Newton Avenue and Sicard Street slick with oil.
“They power-washed all that grease out onto the sidewalks, and where did it go? Right down the storm drain,” Barrio Senior Villas property manager Miguel Espinoza pointed out.
Over the last two weeks, county air quality regulators said they’ve been investigating new odor complaints about the plant. The district has verified the complaints and is trying to identify the odors’ source.
The district also issued a notice of violation to New Leaf on Wednesday for failing to conduct an asbestos survey prior to a renovation where drywall was replaced. The district has since verified the drywall did not contain asbestos.
These updates will be presented at the upcoming district hearing board meeting on Thursday.
Asked about the issues at Wednesday’s meeting, Bartell did not immediately respond.
New Leaf ’s pipeline project will be reviewed by the Barrio Logan Community Planning Group’s project review subcommittee before it returns for a vote on whether to recommend the project at the group’s next meeting at 6 p.m. April 19 at the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center.
The planning group’s vote is a recommendation. The project only needs the city’s approval to proceed.