178 results for author: No Coal in Oakland

Oakland Disputes Tagami Lease Reinstatement in Opening Appeal Brief

On August 27, the City of Oakland filed its opening brief in its appeal of Superior Court Judge Noël Wise’s ruling requiring the City to give Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal (OBOT) another 2½ years to begin construction of a marine export terminal on the West Oakland waterfront. The City terminated the developers’ lease in 2018 for failure to meet an August 2018 construction deadline set out in the lease. The developers blamed their failure on unforeseeable roadblocks (so-called “force majeure”) the City placed in their way, most importantly the passage in 2016 of a ban on storage and handling of coal in Oakland, including at the West ...

Attempt to jumpstart coal terminal development nixed by court

West Gateway project on hold (for now) while City appeals Developers have been attempting to jumpstart an Oakland coal terminal following a ruling against the City of Oakland, but those efforts were derailed today by a ruling from the judge who presided over last year’s bench trial OBOT v Oakland. Her January 2024 judgment reinstating the developers’ lease has been automatically stayed – that is, put on hold – by the City’s appeal contesting the judgment. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Noël Wise confirmed the stay in Tuesday’s ruling, which responded to a motion filed by developers in late May aiming to compel the City to permit ...

OBOT seeks to clear path for coal terminal while court decision is on appeal

UPDATE: The hearing described below has been rescheduled to Tuesday, July 23, 2024 at 1:30 pm   OBOT is trying to proceed with plans to build a coal terminal on Oakland’s waterfront even as the City of Oakland is appealing the court ruling that found they may do so. To that end, Phil Tagami – with his hedge fund backer Jon Brooks standing right behind him – has filed a motion to hold the City of Oakland in contempt for failing to immediately produce documents and permitting necessary to restart the coal terminal project following January’s ruling by Judge Noël Wise. The City’s position is that the January 23, 2024 judgment is ...

Dust Settles on Attorneys Fees and Costs in Coal Trial (for now)

Judge Wise denies nearly half of developer's fees and costs request.

New study: Oakland coal terminal would bring asthma, heart disease, hospitalization, and death

A new study describing health impacts of PM2.5 from coal trains in the San Francisco Bay Area – that is, small particulate matter from coal dust routinely spilled from trains transporting coal – was posted on April 18, 2024 in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research. As summarized in a press release from UC Davis, where lead author Dr. Bart Ostro is an epidemiologist with the Air Quality Research Center, “Trains carrying loads of coal bring with them higher rates of asthma, heart disease, hospitalization and death for residents living nearest the rail lines.” A copy of the study, Health impact assessment of PM2.5 from uncovered ...

Courtroom Battle Unfolds Over Developer’s Claim for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs

On April 3, Judge Noël Wise will hear arguments over developer Phil Tagami’s claim for $12.8 million of attorneys’ fees and costs based on partial victory in his breach of contract lawsuit against the City of Oakland.

$1B lawsuit filed by Insight Terminal Solutions against City of Oakland

Yesterday, Insight Terminal Solutions (ITS), a shell company owned by hedge fund operator Jon Brooks, filed a frivolous lawsuit against the City of Oakland claiming losses of over a billion dollars stemming from the City’s termination of Phil Tagami’s lease in 2018. ITS negotiated a sublease of the 19-acre West Oakland site days before the City declared Tagami’s lease terminated for failure to meet his deadline to get construction of a marine export terminal underway. A state court judge ruled in January that the City acted prematurely and should have given Tagami’s Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal LLC (OBOT) an extension of time. I...

City to appeal decision in OBOT v Oakland

The City of Oakland will appeal Judge Wise's decision in OBOT v Oakland. The City's attorneys filed formal notice on January 23, 2024, the same day Judge Wise filed her final, formal judgement in the case. The simple form the City filed indicated only an intent to appeal; it was posted on the court's e-Portal yesterday, January 24th. The City's argument(s) to the California Court of Appeals will not be disclosed until the City files its opening brief. Stay tuned ... it looks like OBOT v Oakland isn't over yet.       Image credit: Alpha Stock Images, Creative Commons licence CC-BY-SA 3.0.

NCIO Vows To Keep Up the Fight as Court Issues Final Judgment

Coal terminal trial ends in split decision. No Coal in Oakland warns, "Investors, beware. There will never be a coal export terminal in Oakland."

OBOT elects to continue development of West Gateway terminal

Late this afternoon, on January 8, 2024, Judge Noël Wise published her Proposed Judgment in OBOT v Oakland. Parties may file objections or comments by Friday January 12, 2024 at 4:00 pm, at which point Judge Wise will determine whether to schedule a hearing for oral argument prior to finalizing her judgment. As reported on December 25, the Judge’s final decision on remedies (published on December 22nd) directed that “Tagami now has a choice between walking away from the project with a mere $317,683 or resuming efforts to build the terminal with a new deadline to get construction underway by July 2026. Phil Tagami’s team has until January 5 ...