OAKLAND — At the West Side Missionary Baptist Church, a few dozen community members gathered Saturday to renew a decade-long fight to prevent the city from becoming the coal shipping capital of the East Bay. Surrounded by banners picturing coal carts emblazoned with a skull and crossbones, speakers outlined their case against a terminal that would ship coal overseas. Residents have expressed concern over coal dust adding to pollution in the area, which already copes with environmental issues brought by heavy truck and ship traffic around the Port of Oakland.
“No longer can communities be used as toxic waste dumps so people can make a whole lot of money and not care about our health,” said Reverend Ken Chambers, the founder and president of the Interfaith Council of Alameda County, which hosted the event.
The rally comes just weeks after the beginning of a trial to determine whether a project to build a massive coal terminal near the base of the Bay Bridge can move forward. The story dates back to 2013, when developer Phil Tagami first received approval from the city to build a large marine terminal for bulk goods in West Oakland. Two years later, the Oakland City Council learned of Tagami’s plans to ship coal mined in Utah from the terminal. In part due to community opposition, the council approved a ban on the storage and handling of coal within city limits in 2016. Tagami successfully sued the city following that ban, arguing that the transport of coal did not pose a substantial health hazard. The developer could not be reached for comment Saturday. Oakland sued again in 2018, arguing that Tagami and his corporate partner Insight Terminal Solutions had breached their lease contract by failing to meet construction milestones. That trial will have a county judge determine whether and how the project is allowed to move forward.
Saturday’s rally, according to organizers, was acknowledgment that regardless of what the courts decide, the community will not accept Oakland as a base for coal operations. “The court can rule however they want, but it’s the community that’s going to make the difference,” Chambers said. “It’s the community that’s going to stop this.”
According to Margaret Rossoff, a No Coal in Oakland organizer, the rally on Saturday was a way to demonstrate that the city was still opposed to coal, and to recruit new members to the cause. The event featured free food trucks, music, and comments from health experts and local community leaders. Speakers primarily addressed the health impacts of co-existing with coal, and it’s contributions to climate change.
West Oakland has a long history of heavy industry, and the health impacts to prove it. The neighborhood is bordered by an interstate highway, rail lines, and a port — all of which contribute to higher levels of particulate matter in West Oakland than other parts of the county. One 2018 study showed that emergency room visits or hospitalizations for asthma in West Oakland are twice that than the rest of Alameda County. Beyond adverse health effects, the battle over coal is emblematic of the city’s willingness, or lack thereof, to participate in a pollutive industry. California is expected to end all coal imports by 2027, and the city of Richmond also successfully banned the handling and shipping of coal within city limits in recent years. At a moment when coal is being phased out nationwide, Oakland, should it lose in court, could instead find itself home to an enormous coal terminal. Still, to opponents of the project, the rally on Saturday is proof that resistance is not slowing down. Organizers said they see this most recent rally as a starting point for a new era of opposition, even if the current lawsuit fails.
“We’re turning up the flame a little bit,” Chambers said, “My granddaughters on dialysis, I’ve had cancer four times, my kids grew up with asthma – so no, no coal terminal in West Oakland.”