Fresh Air Vallejo & Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021 Oppose Vallejo Cement Factory Proposal

San Francisco, CA, December 28, 2017 --(PR.com)-- Fresh Air Vallejo, the citizens group working together for a healthy environment and economy, today announced that the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 representing over 54,000 employees in local governments, non-profit agencies, health care programs and schools throughout Northern California, has joined Fresh Air Vallejo in opposition to the Orcem/VMT cement factory and port proposed for South Vallejo.

“Our members value fresh air, good jobs and environmental justice,” said Sarah Creighton, a Solano County Eligibility Benefits Specialist. “Local 1021 will continue to fight for working families’ right to a healthy, sustainable future in South Vallejo and across California.”

The Orcem/VMT project, if approved, would place a cement grinding facility and deep-water port in South Vallejo. Opponents say the project would be too close to homes and a school and would introduce an unacceptable amount of diesel truck traffic and cement dust into South Vallejo, a neighborhood already impacted by pollution.

“Fresh Air Vallejo wholeheartedly supports SEIU 1021’s position in favor of a healthy, vibrant Vallejo and against the pollution and social injustice the Orcem/VMT project would bring to our community,” said Peter Brooks, president of Fresh Air Vallejo. “We are thrilled that SEIU 1021 has taken a stand against the injustice of putting a cement factory and port into South Vallejo a low-income, minority neighborhood already suffering from the ill effects of industrial pollution.”

The environmental impact report for the Orcem/VMT project reveals that over 500 big-rig diesel trucks per day could use the facility traveling on a single road through a residential neighborhood. If put into operation, the cement factory’s smokestack would be about 1,320 feet from Grace Patterson Elementary School downwind from the proposed facility, said Brooks.

With today’s announcement, the SEIU Local 1021 joins opponents of the project including the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10 and the Sierra Club as well as nearly 60 neighborhood groups and Bay Area organizations.

For More Information:
Timothy Gonzales, Area Director, North Central Region
530-604-6465
timothy.gonzales@seiu1021.org

Gabriel Harland, Political Organizer
415-717-8305
Gabriel.haaland@seiu1021.org

Peter Brooks, President, Fresh Air Vallejo
415-425-4225
peterjbrooks@msn.com