Amazon will move into a massive air cargo logistics center currently under construction at San Bernardino International Airport, officials announced Friday, May 8.
With the e-commerce giant officially on board, the 660,000-square-foot sorting facility formerly known as Eastgate has been rebranded as the Amazon Air Regional Air Hub, the Southern California headquarters for an expansive air freight network.
Between Amazon, FedEx and UPS, the three largest integrated air cargo carriers in the world operate out of SBIA, at the former Norton Air Force Base.
“It’s an exciting time for us to see the confidence that the industry has in our airport and our community,” Michael Burrows, the airport’s executive director, said by phone Friday.
The privately-funded Eastgate project got the Federal Aviation Administration’s blessing in late 2019, though state Attorney General Xavier Becerra and local environmental groups have since sued the FAA, San Bernardino International Airport Authority and master developer Hillwood Enterprises over that approval.
Becerra’s suit, filed in February, contends the three agencies ignored significant health risks the project poses to the surrounding San Bernardino-Muscoy community and asks the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to set aside the FAA’s approval of the project “as arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law.”
Law firms representing the Jurupa Valley-based Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, Sierra Club, Teamsters Local 1932 and two residents also have challenged the FAA’s conclusion that a project of this size will have “no significant impact” on the surrounding environment.
Opening briefs in both cases are expected to be filed in June.
“Now that it’s confirmed that (the tenant) is Amazon, it tells the community a lot about what’s going on,” Andrea Vidaurre, policy analyst for the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, said by phone Friday. “It’s not just a small business, it’s not just a small start-up. It’s Amazon, one of the richest companies in the world right now, owned by a man making incredible profits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Through his experience in the 14 warehouses in our region,” Vidaurre continued, “we know what we’re getting when Amazon comes in: insecure job stability, a bunch of pollution he holds no responsibility over and unhealthy practices inside warehouses that put people at risk.”
Adrian Martinez, an attorney with Earthjustice, the San Francisco-based law firm representing the environmental groups in one suit, said Friday that FAA officials knew Amazon would lease the Eastgate facility before the project was announced in February 2019.
According to an October 2018 email exchange between FAA and Amazon officials obtained by the Southern California News Group, Mark McClardy, FAA Western-Pacific Region Airports Division director, asked Amazon public policy lead Matt McCardle “how many daily flights Amazon expects to fly out of SBD and when.”
“Amazon comes out proudly touting its involvement at this airport at a time when the air has been incredibly dirty in San Bernardino,” Martinez said, “and this is a project that’ll add air pollution to the community surrounding the airport. It’s odd timing to say the least.”
Set for a 101-acre lot west of Victoria Avenue and south of Third Street, the $200 million Amazon facility is being built from the ground up to fit the company’s operational needs. The project is expected to provide about 4,000 jobs and generate millions of dollars in revenue within five years, airport officials have said.
Burrows said Friday the building’s foundation has been laid and at least three walls have been raised, in addition to substantial utility work and off-site infrastructure improvements.
Initial operations could begin as early as this fall, Burrows said.
When the facility opens fully in 2021, as many as 12 flights are expected each day, with that figure increasing to 26 in five years.
“It’s taken us a long time to rebuild this airport’s infrastructure,” Burrows said. “We spent a lot of time and took a lot of pride trying to do it the right way the first time. In most cases, we’ve done that. We’ve been setting the stage for this.”
With Amazon secured, the domestic air freight sector largely accounted for and a top-notch customs clearance station, Burrows said Friday airport officials could begin selling international air cargo carriers on setting roots at SBIA.
“With air cargo,” Burrows said, “it brings so much economic activity and it’s so important, so for us, it’s basically going back to our roots because for many, many, many folks who worked at Norton, air cargo is in the heart and soul of Norton. With Amazon Air adding to our business community in the way they’ve done and to the level they have is almost reminiscent of what our military did for the San Bernardino region for decades.
“That’s a very exciting thing,” Burrows continued, “but it’s important because that’s the trust our veteran community has placed in us and the charge they’ve given us to bring those caliber of jobs back to Norton, and Amazon has made a major commitment to do just that.”
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