Richmond City Council: Coal and Petcoke Ordinance

Richmond may be taking its first step toward ending the shipment of coal through the Levin terminal.

A draft coal and petcoke ordinance is on the Richmond city council agenda this Tuesday!  The city council will be voting to direct city staff to review the proposed ordinance, which if adopted will protect Richmond’s community from the health hazards of coal and petroleum coke.  Please come and express your support.  This is currently the very last item (L-7) on the meeting agenda, but it’s possible it could be moved up.  Here are key talking points:

• The export of coal from Richmond is not only a public health issue for the people who live directly next to the terminal, but for every community that the uncovered coal trains travel through from Utah where the coal is mined.
• Richmond residents already suffer from high levels of asthma and other health-related issues from poor air quality.  This is a critical step to making Richmond a healthier place to live for residents and businesses.
• In 2017, the Levin-Richmond terminal shipped over 1.1 million metric tons of coal.  That’s a 300% increase over 2016 coal shipments, and the terminal is on track to exceed that amount this year.  Our community cannot continue to be exposed to high levels of toxic coal dust and public health risks.
• This is an opportunity for Richmond to phase out the export of coal and petcoke, and fulfill residents’ desire to live in a healthier and safer community.

Feel free to bring your own stories and concerns, too!  It is also helpful to contact city council members to tell them that you support this coal ordinance:

Mayor Tom Butt tom.butt@intres.com
Jovanka Beckles jovanka_beckles@ci.richmond.ca.us
Ben Choi ben_choi@ci.richmond.ca.us
Eduardo Martinez eduardo_martinez@ci.richmond.ca.us
Ada Recinos ada_recinos@ci.richmond.ca.us
Jael Myrick jael_myrick@ci.richmond.ca.us
Melvin Willis melvin_willis@ci.richmond.ca.us