VA report: No environmental review needed for new Bakersfield clinic
"VA concludes that implementing the Proposed Action would not have a significant adverse impact on the quality of the natural or human environment, the report said. "Therefore, preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required."
The proposed action is the construction of a new VA outpatient clinic in Bakersfield, one that's been planned — and held up in court — for years.
Congress approved the clinic in 2009 but construction on the new facility has been frustrated by a series of legal filings by a group called Progress for Bakersfield Veterans, LLC, or PBV.
Since 2018, PBV has filed a series of complaints alleging violations of the California Environmental Quality Act and other regulations. PBV is a subsidiary of Beverly Hills-based Cardinal Equities Group, which owns the building housing the existing clinic on Westwind Drive.
Critics have accused PBV of filing frivolous lawsuits in order to prolong the current clinic's tenure at its aging building. Because the terms of the lease are expired, PBV can raise the rent on the building every six months.
The Californian reported last year the VA was paying more than $400,000 a month to lease the current clinic location.
"We are paying millions of dollars to somebody that doesn't even care for the rental of the current clinic. We are dumping tons of money, monthly," said Rick Knight, a 77-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran who uses the clinic.
Knight said he'd heard supposedly good news about the clinic before, only to see PBV file a lawsuit to stop progress.
"I am a pro-VA advocate to get us a clinic built and get away from this snake that is out to strike us and poison us again," Knight said.
Casey Schaubschlager, a social worker with the Wounded Heroes Fund, called the VA's finding "one more hoop jumped."
"That being said, this project has been over a decade since the approval, but with the current court process going on, who knows how the lawsuit will go on, or how long," Schaubschlager said.
The VA did not immediately respond to request for comment Thursday.
U.S. Reps. Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, and David Valadao, R-Hanford, both praised the news, saying the clinic was too long delayed.
"My office is working closely with the House Veterans Affairs Committee and in contact with the Veterans Affairs Department to find ways to remove the frivolous legal hurdles that have stifled this project well beyond its expected completion date," Fong said in an email Thursday.
"Our veterans deserve to receive the best possible care, and I will continue to fight to deliver the services our nation's heroes have rightfully and dutifully earned," he said.
Valadao said the clinic is a topic priority.
"After years of delays and frivolous lawsuits, the release of the no significant impact report for the Bakersfield VA clinic is a welcome update,' Valadao said. 'This project has always been one of my top priorities, and I'll continue working closely with the VA to ensure we are doing everything we can to construct the new clinic valley veterans deserve.'
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