Construction of Large Body Shop Protested
Protests against a large auto body shop being built in Alhambra gained new momentum Wednesday night when more than 100 people attended a meeting with Air Quality Management District officials.
Residents near the construction site at Marengo Avenue and Maple Court voiced concerns about possible pollution from the body shop.
“An environmental injustice has been done here,” said Lillian Anaya, a member of Residents for a Better Alhambra.
Barry Wallerstein, executive director of South Coast Air Quality Management District, said his staff would ensure that the construction and operation of the body shop comply with all laws. But if no laws are broken, his agency cannot stop the construction, he added.
The body shop’s owner, Alhambra businessman Paul Wondries, sat quietly through the 3 1/2-hour meeting at an elementary school. Afterward he said that some speakers were misinformed and that the shop will have pollution controls surpassing what law requires.
The AQMD has held monthly town halls across the Southland for the last year and a half, but never had there been so many community members expressing this high level of concern about a single issue, Wallerstein said.
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