Lawsuit showcases the dark side of the e-commerce boom Enrique Jaime moved to Bloomington, California, in 2008 seeking something different. The 74-year-old retiree was sick of the traffic and pollution that came with living in Lynwood, near the ports, freeways, and refineries of Long Beach, and decided to move with his wife, Carmen, 63, to this more peaceful and rural area in San Bernardino County, about 50 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
?We wanted to enjoy a better life, with no traffic hassles,? he said.
Everything was good until the warehouses came. In the last decade, as the rapid growth of e-commerce has created a seemingly insatiable demand for logistics facilities, this portion of Southern California has become one of the nation?s largest hubs for warehouses. Even though it measures just 6 square miles, Bloomington already has four large warehouses within its boundaries, and plans were approved last year to build a 680,000 square-foot facility 260 feet from Walter Zimmerman Elementary School. In September, the county approved construction of the Slover Distribution Center, a 334,000-square-foot facility set on 17 acres of re-zoned residential land at the corner of Slover and Laurel avenues, 550 feet from a high school and 50 feet from the property line of nearby homes, including the Jaimes?. ?With this particular warehouse,? Jaime says, ?our health will be diminished because of the diesel fumes.?
?There?s no bigger hotbed for this issue than the Inland...