Guest column: Setting the record straight about Port of Hueneme project
You may have heard about a proposed Port of Hueneme project for a temporary 34-acre parking area in Oxnard. Some of the narratives being circulated about this project are incorrect and our community deserves to have the facts.
Trade through the Port of Hueneme is responsible for 4% of Ventura County’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides employment for 6% of Ventura County’s workforce with over 20,000 jobs. The Port considers projects like Project 34 to help foster economic opportunity for our community, always with an environmental ethic and commitment to our community and neighbors.
This project, consistent with the governor’s mandate requiring all new passenger vehicle sales to be zero-emission by 2035, is also integral in supporting solutions to a global supply chain crisis. If approved, the project would decrease the number of diesel car carriers moving from the Port through our neighborhoods. Instead, new clean cars, including electric cars, would be driven directly to the site with no trucking, thereby reducing diesel emissions.
The proposed project is for a temporary vehicle storage lot strategically located along the Port’s designated primary corridor from the Port to the 101 — Hueneme Road on privately owned land that is zoned appropriately as light industrial. The storage lot proposal is for three years with a two-year option; for a maximum of five years.
No state or local law required an Environmental Impact Report (EIR); however, as a true environmental steward, the Port supported moving forward with this longer and expensive process so that an independent third-party expert could analyze in full detail all of the project’s impacts and to allow for more input.
Facts about Project 34:
The Project does not involve diesel trucking. It will not increase diesel trucking, in fact, diesel trucks will not be allowed on the project site.
The 34-acre temporary project is not connected in any way to a larger Port development project.
The Project does not involve any increases in ships entering or exiting the Port, nor increased railroad activity.
Seven out of 10 residents polled in local neighborhoods trust the Port to do the right thing environmentally.
Coastal access will not be blocked by the project. There is currently no public access through the site, nor has there been for decades.
The project will not affect Ormond Beach restoration efforts and will not cause runoff or any impact to threatened species like snowy plovers.
This temporary parking site will operate for a maximum of five years.
Sensitive plants, habitats and wetlands are not on this site.
The project includes native species landscaping and removes noxious weeds from the site that would beautify the area.
The city of Oxnard extended the comment period to accommodate extra public review and input and the Port fully supported the extension.
The project creates 30 new jobs.
Our Partner Glovis, the company slated to use this temporary site, is a proven global leader in clean energy. Glovis ranks as one of the world’s top five electric vehicle manufacturers (Hyundai and Kia brands), and deployed the only commercially available, zero-emission big rig trucks in the world, here in California.
The Port website provides a well-researched fact sheet about the proposed project, and we encourage you to visit www.portofhueneme.
We provide videos in English, Spanish and Mixteco.
The Port of Hueneme is a catalyst, not only for the deployment of more clean energy infrastructure and equipment, but a catalyst for empowering the local community. We greatly appreciate your interest and support.
Kristin Decas is the Port of Hueneme’s CEO and Port Director.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Guest column: Setting the record straight about Port project
