Almost 300 voice opinions on proposed e-commerce center 

More than 90% of the nearly 300 comments the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency received about a proposed e-commerce facility raised concerns about air pollution related to the project.

In all, the agency received 291 public comments about the development of a new e-commerce facility, rumored to be an Amazon distribution center, and many comments expressed concerns about air pollution that traffic around the facility would generate.   

Matt Sorensen, the public affairs and project manager for the agency, said the public interest is a positive sign.

“We are very pleased to see community members actively engaging in their local government affairs,” Sorensen said, “and trying to make sure that their voice and their thoughts are taken into consideration for the work we do.”

The majority of the comments the agency received shared a common sentiment, arguing that the facility’s development would create pollution and ecological damage to the area. According to Lookout Eugene-Springfield’s analysis, 269 comments expressed objections to the project and 11 expressed support. An additional 11 comments were neutral. 

“I’m writing as a parent of two and a clinical psychologist,” one commenter wrote. “One of my main sources of concern among many is the wide-ranging impact of air pollution on the developing brains of children and their mental health.” 

The facility — near the airport, south of Awbrey Lane between Greenhill Road and Highway 99 — is expected to have 370 parking spaces and create an estimated 2,592 vehicle trips coming in and out of the facility on a given day. The projected air pollution from the vehicles requires developers to file an “indirect source” pollution permit application to the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency before development. The permit application awaits review.

“We already experience days with excessive air pollution. Eugene has some of the worst air pollution in the country,” wrote a resident of the north Santa Clara neighborhood, a quarter-mile from the proposed site. “We cannot keep bringing in more business that will be adding to the inhospitable air quality we already experience many times a year.”

A few of the comments expressed support for the new facility and emphasized it would bring much-needed jobs and economic development to the area.

“I worked in Eugene for over 30 years and have watched the City of Eugene pull some bone-headed moves in that time,” one commenter wrote. “This does not need to be another one of them. This proposal will bring a huge employer into the area, supplying hundreds of jobs for an area that desperately needs them.”

Other commenters were skeptical of the potential for economic growth. 

“This development threatens our local economy. Amazon’s business model is designed to dominate and displace — not support — local retailers,” one said. Another wrote, “Eugene’s small, locally owned businesses are the heart of our community and key to preserving our unique character and livable scale.”

LRAPA, the air protection agency, will review the comments, group them based on shared themes and look for what it calls “substantive comments.”

Substantive comments are those that question the scientific or legal basis of the permits or offer reasonable alternatives or revisions to the existing permits. While LRAPA considers all the comments, substantive comments factor the most into the agency’s evaluation process of the permit application. 

LRAPA will assess whether the permit is in line with federal National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The permit is then either approved or returned to developers for further revision.