Sign on to our Open Letter to the Bay Area Air District
As of early 2026, litigation has given would-be coal terminal developers a second chance to build a massive coal export terminal on the site of Oakland’s West Gateway, near the Bay Bridge toll plaza.
But they don’t have all the permits needed to complete the project, and they don’t have funding — not yet.
In case the developers raise the hundreds of millions they seek to build a dystopian waterfront coal terminal, regulation to protect us from asthma, cardiopulmonary disease, and cancer must be in place. Without strong emissions and fugitive dust regulation and enforcement, communities all along the rail lines hugging the East Bay shoreline, from Martinez to West Oakland, would be severely impacted.
No Coal in Oakland and its coalition partners have crafted an Open Letter to the Bay Area Air District (BAAD, formerly BAAQMD) asking for that protection.
Endorsement of the Open Letter to the Bay Area Air District by both individuals and organizations who live and work within the Air District’s jurisdiction is key to convincing its staff and Board of Directors to prioritize this issue. Below you’ll find the text we hope you will join us in signing; it includes a link to the longer and more detailed Open Letter to the Air District. Please join us by clicking the red button below to add your name…
We urge the Bay Area Air District (BAAD) to fully exercise its authority to protect our communities from toxic dust that may be generated by a proposed massive coal export terminal in West Oakland, a.k.a. the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal (OBOT).
Coal shipment to and through a facility next to the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza could significantly harm air quality and the health of Bay Area residents. Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) blown from trains and the terminal would lead to increased rates of asthma, cardiopulmonary disease, and cancer, both in the immediate vicinity of the facility and all along the rail route from Martinez to Oakland.
We urge the Air District to evaluate each OBOT permit application with the utmost care and to adopt regulatory conditions on the terminal’s construction and operation that reflect:
- the best available emission reduction technology;
- developer plans and commitments that were instrumental in convincing a federal district court judge to allow OBOT to handle coal;
- the large population that will be exposed; and,
- existing cumulative pollutant burdens and community vulnerabilities.
I am proud to endorse the Open Letter (https://nocoal.org/BAADLetter/) that provides detailed recommendations for BAAD to protect our lungs from toxic coal dust.
(Initial organizational signers of the Open Letter to the Bay Area Air District include: No Coal in Oakland, 350 Bay Area, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, No Coal in Richmond, San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sunflower Alliance, San Francisco Baykeeper, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, and Youth Vs. Apocalypse. A listing of organizational signers and individual endorsers will be updated regularly on the website page where the Open Letter is published.)
Your labor, neighborhood, faith-based, public health, environmental, or public interest group can sign onto the Open Letter using our organizational sign-on form.
Thank you!
