Polluting Less Affluent Communities – The Mega Factory/Warehouse Effect

1.5 Million Sq Ft Walmart warehouse in Casagrande, AZ.

Big issues slide by the wayside when bigger issues dominate the headlines. The Russo-Ukraine war, the Hamas-Israeli war, chaos at the border, raging weather slamming into the US (although it is related to the biggest issue of our time), the severe polarization and congressional gridlock that is ripping our nation apart. Some of these, like the wars, contribute heavily to the greenhouse effect that is driving global warming. Explosions and deteriorating buildings in war torn regions dump massive emissions into the atmosphere, but we are obviously more focused on the more immediate human cost. Some of these “mega-distractions” hinder national solutions to contain necessary issues like the ravages and disasters that emanate from climate change.

Climate change is the biggest story of our time, threatening to render even more vast once arable lands into deserts, adding unbearable heat to communities making them unlivable and decimating the world with natural disasters from wildfires to massive tropical storms, coastal surges and sea rises and general flooding. Killing and displacing more people than any war. As necessary as focusing on those “other” major issues above might be, that does not justify ignoring a very necessary reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

While the obvious matters related to containing greenhouse gas make the headlines – from excessive use of fossil fuel to generate electricity and power vehicles to methane belching cows – one of the least obvious but hugely impactful is the construction of massive new factories and warehouses to service supply chain driven heavily by the exponential rise of online commerce, often built on desert lands where real estate is available and cheaper… and local communities less affluent.

Let’s start with the massive pollution generated by the pervasive use of concrete tilt-up construction in building these warehouses and factories in the first place. Out here in the west, in the desert communities in California, Nevada and Arizona, these mega-structures are everywhere. But the use of concrete creates untenable problems, even though new forms of “concrete” can absolutely and substantially mitigate the damage. Here are descriptions of the problem and suggestions for the alternatives:

“The environmental impact of concrete, its manufacture, and its applications, are complex, driven in part by direct impacts of construction and infrastructure, as well as by CO2 emissions; between 4-8% of total global CO2 emissions come from concrete. Many depend on circumstances. A major component is cement, which has its own environmental and social impacts and contributes largely to those of concrete.... Cement manufacture contributes greenhouse gases both directly through the production of carbon dioxide when calcium carbonate is thermally decomposed, producing lime and carbon dioxide, and also through the use of energy, particularly from the combustion of fossil fuels…

“A 2022 report from the Boston Consulting Group found that investments in greener forms of cement would lead to greater greenhouse gas reductions, per dollar, than investments in many other green technologies… [One] approach has been the partial replacement of conventional clinker with such alternatives as fly ash, bottom ash, and slag, all of which are by-products of other industries that would otherwise end up in landfills. Fly ash and bottom ash come from thermoelectric power plants, while slag is a waste from blast furnaces in the ironworks industry. These materials are slowly gaining popularity as additives, especially since they can potentially increase strength, decrease density, and prolong durability of concrete.

“The main obstacle to wider implementation of fly ash and slag may be largely due to the risk of construction with new technology that has not been exposed to long field testing. Until a carbon tax is implemented, companies are unwilling to take the chance with new concrete mix recipes even if this reduces carbon emissions.” Wikipedia. But the companies that have built these monoliths all too often ignore their gaseous reality, one that violates regulatory pollution standards. California is now beginning to crack down on these scofflaws, as Tony Briscoe, writing for the December 23rd Los Angeles Times reports:

“Southern California air regulators have issued more than 100 violation notices — and could levy hefty fines — to warehouse facilities across the region, citing the companies’ failure to comply with new regulations that seek to curb smog-forming pollution… ‘We’re at a place where we are transitioning into more traditional enforcement and taking a more aggressive, stronger approach,’ said Terrence Mann, head of enforcement at the South Coast Air Quality Management District. ‘I think our agency’s perspective is, enough is enough. These warehouses have had a lot of time.

“Over the last decade, large warehouses and logistics centers have sprouted up across Southern California to accommodate the boom in e-commerce and goods movement. These facilities have attracted thousands of heavy-duty trucks that release smog-forming nitrogen oxides and carcinogenic diesel exhaust… The air district’s sweeping enforcement action prioritized noncompliant warehouses located in disadvantaged communities, including the Inland Empire, where residents endure the worst smog pollution in the nation.

“A number of warehouses operated by Fortune 500 companies were among the list of violators cited by the air district, including a Boeing facility in El Segundo, a UPS facility in Sylmar, a Home Depot logistics center in Irwindale, a Target distribution center in Rialto, two Wayfair warehouses in Perris and a Costco in Jurupa Valley.

“The new [California] regulations, which were adopted in 2021, require that thousands of warehouses offset pollution from the truck traffic they generate with clean air projects, such as the installation of electric vehicle chargers or rooftop solar panels. Warehouse operators can also choose to pay a fee that would go toward the air district’s clean air initiatives.” Or not. New California rules expanding the scope of current warehouse emissions, beginning now and further expanding in 2025, seem to be effective.

Yet as water resources become scarcer, as the nation is being weaned from oil, once productive farms on or near major California highways, as in Kern County, are welcoming warehouse construction big time. Managing and containing greenhouse gas emissions means tackling offenders, prioritizing the biggest offenders. And controlling new construction to be more environmentally appropriate. The total impact of these rules “is expected to reduce smog-forming emissions from warehouse operations by 10% to 15%.” LA Times. It is, after all, time for each of us to focus on how we impact the problem. Who knew shopping could be so toxic?

I’m Peter Dekom, and there is no requirement to ignore climate change, because it might contribute to our federal deficit (unless we decide, finally to tax wealth) while we want other issues to be resolved first; mother nature and the laws of physics do not have a pause button!