Letter: New Leaf Biofuel Committed to Solving Odor Problem in Barrio Logan

Many of our neighbors in Barrio Logan recently voiced strong concerns about our facility’s used cooking oil odors. The team at New Leaf Biofuel hears you. We’re working hard to fully rectify your concerns in the coming weeks.

Since coming to Barrio Logan 15 years ago, we’ve understood that it is our responsibility to protect the health and safety of our neighbors. That’s why we began working closely with the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District at the beginning of this year to determine which additional odor control systems could be installed and then obtain the required permit to construct them. 

We understand that many of you wanted these systems in place sooner and wonder why it took us this long to start making changes. We worked as quickly as possible under the district’s comprehensive permitting process to develop the best option and conduct the analysis to ensure it would work.

As of this month we now have the agency’s permit in place and the new system is under construction, along with other measures already undertaken. We expect to get everything completed by early December.

We fully believe that being good neighbors is as important as our mission to improve air quality in San Diego and to better the world. Since our founding in 2006, New Leaf Biofuel’s highly trained staff has recycled more than 30 million gallons of cooking oil into biodiesel, avoiding over 300,000 metric tons of carbon, equivalent to removing 68,000 cars from the road. We do this through long-standing partnerships with Southern California restaurants that, like us, are committed to continued sustainability practices. 

Please know that we are working hard to address your odor concerns promptly. We know that doing so is our responsibility towards the community that has been our home for 15 years.

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