A company hoping to operate an auto shredder in Colton, Calif., is blasting recent mailers urging voters to sign a petition in support of an initiative to stop the project.
Pacific Rail Industries in November received permission from the city to expand its existing scrap-metal facility and install a vehicle shredder on its property.
But rival auto-shredding yards and other opponents moved to derail the project in December, suing the city and Pacific Rail because they said environmental impacts were not adequately addressed.
Later that month, San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Shahla Sabet issued an order forbidding Pacific Rail from moving forward with its plans until the case is decided. On Oct. 5, both sides argued their cases before the judge, who has yet to rule.
In the past two weeks, opponents sent three mailers urging residents to sign a petition to prohibit auto-shredding facilities within one mile of any home, school, child-care center, park or recreational site in Colton.
The glossy color pieces show stacks of wrecked automobiles waiting to be shredded, an indication of what opponents said the operation would look like.
Pacific Rail spokesman Eleazar Elizondo said the mailers are misleading because they exaggerate the size of the approved operation.
"Nobody in Colton will ever see cars stacked like that because we have to build a wall and do landscaping," Elizondo said. "Also, we would never stack cars like that because our permit restricts how much volume we can do. They're being dishonest to the people and misrepresenting the facts."
Elizondo said one mailer shows a picture of a rival auto-shredding yard operated at the Port of Los Angeles by Hugo Neu-Proler, which is suing the city and Pacific Rail.
Hugo Neu-Proler Corp., based in New York City, generates about $1 billion in annual sales, primarily as a scrap-metal recycler.
Hugo Neu-Proler also is doing business as Colton Iron and Metal, a metal recycler across M street from Pacific Rail.
Hugo Neu-Proler spokesman Jim Haggerty said he had no knowledge of the mailers and could not comment. But he said the corporation "is not involved in that initiative" to ban the shredding facilities.
The mailers were produced by Anaheim-based Pick Your Part Auto Recycling, which is financing the opposition drive. Pick Your Part is also a competitor of Pacific Rail. Hugo Neu-Proler has no ownership interest in Pick Your Part, Haggerty said.
Jim Tabilio, a consultant for Pick Your Part, said paid and volunteer signature gatherers have collected about 1,200 valid signatures as of Oct. 12. Petitioners have until March to collect valid signatures from 10 percent of the city's nearly 17,000 registered voters to qualify the measure.
Tabilio said the goal is to have the initiative appear on the state primary election ballot in June.
Pick Your Part will spend about $35,000 to qualify the initiative, including mail pieces, paid signature gatherers and consulting, Tabilio said.
"The people who don't think (the shredder) is a good idea don't have a lot of resources to fight it," Tabilio said. "We are somebody who is willing to fight that fight."
Tabilio said the mailers, which claim the shredder will produce significant noise, traffic and air and water quality problems, are "absolutely accurate."
"That information is directly from (the city's) own environmental impact report," Tabilio said. "They say they're going to deal with the problems. We don't think the mitigation measures are appropriate and adequate."
City Manager Daryl Parrish said the project will not be an environmental hazard.
"From our perspective, the environmental issues were addressed in the (environmental impact report)," Parrish said. "The zoning is proper. It's a heavy-industrial project in a heavy-industrial area."
It also happens to be 650 feet from the nearest home. Zoning laws prevent such operations within 500 feet of residences.
Tabilio said it should be up to the voters to decide the fate of the shredder.
"Clearly, Pacific Rail doesn't want it on the ballot," Tabilio said. "Because they know that if it is on the ballot, it will lose."
Elizondo said opponents are abusing the initiative process.
"This is not an exercise in democracy," Elizondo said. "This is a sham and mockery of democracy. They're using the system to protect their corporate profits. Why do they not accept the wisdom and judgment and will of the leaders who were elected by the very voters who they seem to be very concerned about?"
Pacific Rail would buy about $800,000 a year in electricity from the city to operate the shredder. The project would also provide about 40 jobs, Elizondo said.