TACOMA, Wash. — When Michelle Mood and her family moved into a home in South Tacoma three years ago, she thought they had found their forever home.
But then she learned that the city was planning to build a mega warehouse right behind her.
The City of Tacoma gave Bridge Point Tacoma LLC, part of Bridge Industrial, the green light to redevelop around 160 acres into a warehouse distribution center with about two-and-a-half million square feet of building space.
Mood says the city has not considered the environmental impact this project could have.
“I thought for sure they’d do an environmental statement, like hopefully they would in the north and the richer parts of Tacoma,” she said. “That has not been the case, so that’s been a real big disappointment.”
Today, the City Hearing Examiner began a multi-day development appeal to hear from environmental groups like Tacoma 350, who are calling on the city to change course.
However, the city’s website says a full Environmental Impact Statement isn’t needed to move forward, and Bridge Point Tacoma’s attorney, Courtney Kaylor, says the law doesn’t require one.
“This is not the forum for appellants to advance their policy objectives,” said Kaylor. “The City Council and the state and federal legislatures are where this discussion belongs.”
But Mood says this could be life-changing for South Tacoma residents.
According to the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department, the lifespan of people in South Tacoma is six years shorter than the average Pierce County resident, and experience the burden of air pollution and other environmental harms.
Mood says the environmental fallout from a mega-warehouse would only make things worse for the people living there.
“We are in the part of Tacoma that has the fewest number of white people, and it’s the poorest zip code with the shortest life expectancy,” Mood said. “This is an already suffering part of the city, I believe it has some of the worst health equity ratings and so at the very least one has to do due diligence and really check out the issues.”