On Sept 16^(th) at 6:30 pm. The Torrance planning commission will decide on approving a massive 400,000 sq ft cold storage warehouse facility, to be built and operated by Prologis, one of the largest warehouse firms in both LA and the world. The 31 acre parcel is adjacent to the Torrance refinery, who uses modified hydrofluoric acid. It would form a lethal, ground-hugging aerosol cloud in the event of an explosion that would cause death and injury for miles downwind.

Even without a fire the project would threaten an number of rare species, including the endangered Crotch’s bumble bee that has lost 90% of its habitat in CA, and the EIR on the project shows their habitat will be completely paved over. It’s going to cause so much traffic and pollution that Prologis will have to buy carbon credits in some distant forest to offset the emissions locally. And Prologis already has a bad track record just a few miles away from this site at Prairie and Del Amo blvds. In 2021 their warehouse caught fire and spilled toxic sludge into the Dominguez channel.

It’s a bad project, please let your voice be heard. Tell the Torrance planning commission to reject the Prologis EIR and to deny the project completely. They can be reached at [planningcommission@torranceca.gov](mailto:planningcommission@torranceca.gov). Comments must include in the subject line “Public Comment” and the record number and project address. (Prologis Del Amo and Prairie Center Project. Res. Nos. 2026-032, 2026-033, 2026-034 and 2026-035). Written comments should be submitted before 4:00 pm on Sept 16, if you want to speak in person it is agenda item 6A, the meeting begins at 6:30 pm at the LeRoy J. Jackson Council Chamber, 3031 Torrance Blvd.

I know this is already a lot, but state senator Maria Elena Durazo and assembly member Mark Gonzales just passed AB 817 and SB 716 on Sept 1, two bills that are now on Gov Newsom’s desk waiting to be signed. Please ask Gov Newsom to sign these two bills into law asap. [https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/](https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/)

AB 817 will ensure that Lineage cannot rebuild without being accountable to the local community. Specifically, this bill will: 1) Prevent the city and county from issuing a new building permit for cold storage facilities like Lineage, unless they maintain a contingency fund that can be accessed in states of emergency; 2) This fund will exist to ensure substantial funding will be available for food assistance, housing assistance, air quality monitoring, environmental cleanup, and remediation of any hazardous materials.

SB 716 raises the ceiling on city and county ordinance fines for large non-residential structures so that penalties scale with the severity of the violation. The current cap of $2,000 per day, regardless of the scope of the harm, is not sufficient to propel action. An escalating structure and the ability to multiply fines by a factor of 10, up to $50,000 per violation, gives locals meaningful leverage to compel rapid remediation.

Please help stop Torrance from approving the next Lineage cold storage warehouse right next to an oil refinery!