66 results for month: 06/2016

Total Ban on Coal in Oakland Set for Vote June 27

The City announced on Friday that a ban on coal storage and handling at Oakland’s proposed bulk terminal will be on the City Council's agenda on Monday, June 27, at 5 pm.  This is the City's first official confirmation that an outright ban will be put to a vote. Activists from No Coal in Oakland are optimistic that the full City staff report, due to be published late in the week, will recommend City Council action to ban coal and not a compromise with the developer that would endanger public health and safety in Oakland and increase greenhouse gas concentrations worldwide. “Phil Tagami can threaten to sue all he wants, but the City now has ...

Public health experts expose coal hazard ‘protection’ fallacies

Coal proponents have advertised they will use new technology to shield port workers and their West Oakland neighbors from the toxic, corrosive, and explosive dangers of transporting coal through the former Oakland Army Base. But fantasies can't protect Oakland's workers and families from coal's frighteningly real threats. Up to 620 tons of dirty coal dust blown into West Oakland every year? That's what a Public Health Advisory Panel on Coal in Oakland figures in their report, An Assessment of the Health and Safety Implications of Coal Transport through Oakland [1]. And that's just for starters. As the Health and Safety report explains, coal ...

Public Health Experts Highlight Risk of Coal Trains

A public health experts panel today released the results of an independent inquiry into the health and safety hazards of the proposal to ship coal through Oakland.

WOEIP Says Coal Scheme Violates Civil Right Act

In a letter to federal and Utah officials, Ms. Margaret Gordon and Brian Beveridge, co-directors of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP), have identified potential violations of federal civil rights law in connection with the State of Utah's funding of a plan to ship Utah coal through a terminal to be constructed in West Oakland.   Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects people from discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. The State of Utah has passed legislation to divert $50 million provided by the federal government to assist ...

State Senate Approves Bills to Slow Coal But Will Jerry Sign?

This week the state Senate passed two bills sponsored by Sen. Loni Hancock that could present significant roadblocks for developer Phil Tagami’s plan to build a $250 million bulk commodities terminal and turn Oakland into a major coal export hub. SB 1277 – which the Senate approved Wednesday on a 25-13 vote – would require additional environmental review for the plan to ship up to 10 million tons of coal per year through Oakland. A companion bill, SB 1279 – which the Senate approved Thursday on a 25-9 vote – would prohibit the California Transportation Commission from allocating any state funds for projects proposed after Jan. 1, 2017, ...

TLS deception on coal dust exposure: uncovered

Terminal Logistics Solutions (TLS), the company that aims to transport dirty coal through Oakland at perilous risk to public health, has been spinning fictions about safety measures they claim will mitigate health risks -- measures which have never been tested for effectiveness, contrary to repeated claims by TLS. In a thorough and well-documented investigation, NCIO's Lora Jo Foo has unmasked the truth that the "proven technology" TLS claims it will use to cover rail cars carrying coal have never been tested for effectiveness in controlling fugitive coal dust. Worse, the claim made by Jerry Bridges of TLS, that the Federal Railroad Administr...