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| Cities, groups, people express concerns over West Park |
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| Written by James Leonard | Patterson Irrigator | |
| Friday, 15 August 2008 | |
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“We do not like the rail proposal at all, and we're hoping to get rid of it. And we are still anxious to limit the industrial development to the original size of the base.” — Ron Swift WS-PACE president  A crop dusting tractor sprays pesticides on a tomato field within the proposed West Park development plan. Photo by Elias Funez Her great-grandmother, Ellen O’Connell Bird Niddrie, was buried in the 1800s along with son Joseph Bird in a pioneer cemetery under or adjacent to the former Crows Landing Naval Airfield. If the cemetery exists — as Snoke and other longtime West Side residents have claimed — it sits well within the boundaries of a proposed 7.5-square-mile industrial park, and that has her more than a little anxious. So Snoke took advantage of the 45-day period for public review of the Notice of Preparation of PCCP West Park’s draft environmental impact report, a document that outlined the proposed project in great detail. Snoke was one of 32 residents, organizations and government bodies that submitted formal comments by Monday’s deadline. The concerns raised in those letters will help determine what should be examined in the draft environmental impact report, which officials hope will be completed sometime next spring.  As temperatures reach into the triple digits, agricultural field workers keep themselves covered in clothing in order to protect against sun exposure. Off of Davis Road, a melon packer bends over to pull a cantaloupe from a field within the boundaries of the proposed West Park short haul rail development. Photo by Elias Funez But perhaps none of the comments were as personal as Snoke’s. She said her family knows that their ancestors were buried there, and she wants to make sure they’re not disturbed. “I have a feeling (the cemetery is) in an alfalfa field, which is fine with me,” Snoke said. “I just don’t want them going out there and digging up my family or repaving over it.” West Park developer Gerry Kamilos said the impact report will include an archaeological study, and part of that study will determine whether this cemetery exists. If it does, more studying will be done to determine its historical significance and how best to deal with the site. If the environmental impact report is to gain approval, it must answer numerous concerns from such bodies as the state departments of Conservation and Transportation, the California Farm Bureau Federation and the cities of Patterson, Gustine, Turlock and Ceres, among others. “Basically, we’re looking at the traffic — truck, auto and rail — coming into the area and how it’s going to impact the community of Gustine and what mitigation measures they’d propose to offset those impacts,” Gustine community development director Jake Rasper said. “And the big issue of air quality in the valley is always a concern.”  Red ripe tomatoes sit nestled in the vine waiting to be harvested on land within the proposed West Park development project. Photo by Elias Funez “You must identify water quality and quantity and sustainability,” Boggs said. “If you don’t, you’re done.” West Park, which would be built in and around the 1,527-acre county-owned former U.S. Navy airfield in Crows Landing, would include an inland port that would be linked to the Port of Oakland by a short-haul rail line. Proponents say the project would provide 37,000 jobs. Opponents, like the West Side-Patterson Alliance for the Community and the Environment (WS-PACE), worry about the impact that such a huge project could have on the West Side. “We do not like the rail proposal at all, and we’re hoping to get rid of it,” said WS-PACE president Ron Swift. “And we are still anxious to limit the industrial development to the original size of the base.”  Alfonso Gomez uses a hoe to help thin tomatoes and weeds from a field within the proposed West Park development project Thursday. Photo by Elias Funez
 Melon pickers walk behind a slow moving harvesting machine, as they spot and pick up ripe cantaloupes. Photo by Elias Funez At that time, another 45-day public comment period will begin, and people will have a chance to inspect the environmental impact report in full and raise concerns again. As part of the final impact report, each of those comments must be responded to in writing. Kamilos said Thursday that he had read through about 90 percent of the letters that had been submitted and that he hadn’t seen any “fatal flaw” comments that might not be able to be answered sufficiently. He said he was encouraged by the number of responses and the amount of detail included in them. “I think this shows that the process is working,” Kamilos said. “And I think all the letters and responses are going to be very helpful to ensure that the environmental analysis is of the highest quality.”
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