Coal Trial Ends: Light at the End of the Tunnel?
Testimony Ends. Judge’s Decision on Who Broke the Lease Expected in October.
West Oakland rally reiterates community opposition to coal terminal
A Community Rally organized by Rev. Ken Chambers of the Interfaith Council of Alameda County was held on Saturday July 22, in the parking lot of the West Side Missionary Baptist Church where Rev. Chambers is pastor. Residents, community organizers, and many stalwarts of the long fight to keep coal out of Oakland turned out for a free lunch, music, and new banners created by the incomparable David Solnit.
Three current Oakland City Council members spoke -- Carroll Fife, Janani Ramachandran, and Dan Kalb -- but were careful not to address the question of coal due to the ...
Trial Begins in Oakland Coal Case
After four and a half years of preliminary skirmishes, lawyers today delivered opening statements in developer Phil Tagami’s legal battle to avoid eviction from the West Gateway, a 19-acre piece of West Oakland waterfront owned by the City of Oakland. Phil Tagami and associates plotted to build and operate an export terminal that would bring coal by rail from Utah for shipment overseas.
The trial will hinge on the question of who broke the lease Tagami signed with the City in February 2016.
The City of Oakland terminated Tagami’s lease in November 2018 after ...
Pretrial Hearing: scheduling and pretrial issues
All signs are that the trial in OBOT/OGRE v City of Oakland will begin on Monday morning, July 10, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. in Department 514, Hayward Hall of Justice, in Hayward, CA. A pre-trial hearing on the afternoon of July 6 dealt with scheduling and key pretrial issues on which the parties could not agree going into trial.
The public is welcome to attend the trial in Judge Noel Wise’s courtroom, but the court announced that there would be no audio stream (i.e., there will be no remote listening option).
Most importantly, Judge Wise adopted the City’s proposal to ...
No Jury Trial in Oakland Coal Dispute: Judge Wise Will Decide
At a pre-trial conference on June 28, 2023, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Noël Wise approved an agreement between would-be coal terminal developers and the City of Oakland to waive their respective rights to a jury trial in the ongoing battle over the City’s termination of the developers’ lease in 2018. At a non-jury or “bench” trial, the judge hears the evidence and decides all questions of law and fact. If all goes smoothly, the parties will make their opening statements on the morning of July 10th in Judge Wise’s Hayward, California courtroom.
The ...
Keep Coal Out of Oakland: yard signs available now!
"Keep Coal Out of Oakland" yard signs began popping up across the city this week!
You can support the continuing campaign to keep coal out of Oakland by putting a sign in your yard (or large window) -- we'll deliver, all you have to do is let us know where (your Oakland address w/ cross street, and City Council District if you can).
Send your info at https://nocoalinoakland.info/contact/ and we'll get a sign to you pronto!
Why now?
On July 10, 2023 a trial is scheduled to begin, pitting would-be coal developers against the City of Oakland. The City aims to ...
No Coal in Oakland Issues Open Letter Correcting Developers’ Misleading Narrative
No Coal in Oakland Issues Open Letter to the People of Oakland, California
Hedge Fund Operator Sows Disinformation Ahead of Trial That Could End Coal Industry’s Designs on Oakland Waterfront
Autumn Wind Lending Conceals Plans for West Oakland While Attacking Oakland’s Leaders for Turning Down Loophole-Laden Settlement Offer
If you read the recent “Open Letter to the Citizens of Oakland” from Insight Terminal Solutions (ITS), you were probably mystified. Why would the City reject a settlement offer that provides everything they want? ITS has ...
Research report on coal in Bay Area finds alarming health and Environmental Justice impacts
A full report on scientific research conducted over the course of three years in Richmond, California greatly expands on a peer-reviewed paper about the spread of toxic PM2.5 pollution by coal trains (see New Proof: Coal Trains Spread Toxic PM2.5 Pollution in Richmond, CA for a summary and link to the paper). [The term “PM2.5” refers to particles in the air that are two-and-one-half microns wide or smaller; there are one million microns in a meter; one micron is approximately 1/25,000 of an inch.] The research was funded by a grant from the California Air Resources ...
New proof: coal trains spread toxic PM2.5 pollution in Richmond, CA
Coal trains passing through a Richmond, California neighborhood on their way to the Levin Terminal add significantly more toxic particulate matter (PM2.5) to the atmosphere than other freight or passenger trains, according to a new, peer-reviewed scientific study published this month in Springer Nature’s Air Quality, Atmosphere, and Health, an international, interdisciplinary journal. The term PM2.5 refers to particles in the air that are two-and-one-half microns wide or smaller. There are one million microns in a meter; one micron is approximately 1/25,000 of an ...
Oakland moves to streamline trial seeking eviction of coal terminal developers
On March 17, 2023, the City of Oakland filed a motion to streamline the upcoming trial of developer Phil Tagami’s lawsuit against the City and the City’s countersuit against Tagami. The City’s motion would split the proceedings into two separate trials: an initial bench trial without a jury and a second trial with a jury. Under the “bifurcation” plan, the second trial would occur only if issues remained that could not be decided by the judge.
The City’s proposal to “bifurcate” the trial rests on a distinction between equitable issues that judges must ...
