Residents urge council to block proposed fuel transfer station and question Sweetwater Road approvals

A sizable group of public commenters used the National City council meeting to press elected officials to oppose a proposed fuel transfer station and to raise concerns over the Sweetwater Road gas-station project and related public-records handling.

Claire Grebner (speaker 18), associate director at an education nonprofit and representative of the National City Healthy Culturas Coalition, said a Texas-based fuel transfer project would concentrate diesel-particulate emissions on the city’s West Side and increase truck traffic within 0.3 miles of Kimball Elementary and Saint Anthony’s Church. "This project would increase truck traffic and lung damage and pollution, and impact our clean air goals," Grebner said, adding that National City’s 2024 climate action plan calls for heavy-duty trucks to electrify substantially by 2030–2050.

Multiple speakers linked the Sweetwater Road project to procedural concerns: they alleged missing public records and questioned whether the city had adequately disclosed communications and depositions in a related matter. One commenter asked the council to direct the city attorney and mayor’s office to produce records and permit forensic review of devices that may contain responsive communications.

Council did not take action on the projects at the meeting; staff and council members acknowledged the public concern and noted upcoming planning-commission and permit processes. Several councilmembers asked staff to follow up on enforcement and procedural questions and confirmed the projects would return to formal review forums where environmental and land-use requirements apply.