City Government

Inspections of Hazardous Cargos in West Oakland Would Violate Law, Says City

Published

12 years ago

October 25, 2013

City officials are saying that current zoning regulations prohibit the inspection of hazardous materials at the old Horizon Beverage building in West Oakland, which is encouraging news to local residents who do not want to see big trucks and potentially dangerous cargos moved from the Port of Oakland into their neighborhoods .

The city planning and zoning department has yet to receive an application from the building operator, according to the city.

“If there were to be any hazardous materials proposed to be handled, stored or transferred here, that’s prohibited in [that zoning district]. If anything were to come to the zoning counter on this issue, the red flags would go up,” said Scott Miller, the city’s zoning manager, speaking at Tuesday’s Community and Economic Development Committee (CED) meeting.

Owned by investor Tom Henderson at 1700 20^th street, the proposed site is located across from Raimondi Field, posing potential risks to the community and small children who regularly play sports there.

In general, U.S. Customs inspects cargo containers suspected of carrying black market products, illegal drugs, smuggled weapons, radioactive materials and infested farm products. If produce is infested, it must be fumigated with highly poisonous gas.

In response to concerns raised by community members, city staff is conducting a risk assessment on the hazardous waste that could stem from customs inspections operating in West Oakland, expected to be done by next week.

“I don’t want us to limit our view just to the hazardous materials. There are a lot of other health impacts that could happen from land-use decisions,” said Councilmember Libby Schaaf, who wants the risk assessment to include the impact of the diesel trucks and other diesel producing equipment associated with inspections of cargo at the site.

Community speakers urged the council members on the CED committee to put a stop to the proposed inspection site.

“The chemical waste issue is concerning to me being a homeowner in West Oakland,” said Dean Chambers, who added that he has asthma and therefore a personal concern about air quality in the area.

Pacific Coast Containers (PCC Logistics) located on the Oakland Army Base previously had a contract with U.S. Customs. However, when the city moved the company off of its current site, PCC was only granted a two and a half year lease. Customs decided to contract with another operator with a long-term five-year lease, according to the city.

The city knew well in advance that it was going to move the businesses at its Army Base property in order to make way forit development project and therefore had plenty of time to ensure that PCC Logistics could maintain its contract on Port on Oakland land, said Rashidah Grinage, executive director of PUEBLO.

“This was entirely foreseeable. You knew this was coming for two years, and no provisions were made for how to keep this ‘genie in the bottle.’ You need to figure out how to keep customs inspections at the port,” Grinage said.

“This is a disaster in the making,”she said. “This is a risk that is incalculable in terms of potentially dangerous items coming into the community.”

City staff agrees that customs operations should remain at the port and that the contract should be awarded to PCC Logistics, said John Monetta, project manager for the city.

“City staff believes that (inspections) should stay in the port area. We believe that (the contract) should be awarded to the applicant that is within the port area, which is (PCC Logistics),” said Monetta.

Community members suggested that city staff reach out to Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Senators Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein to encourage U.S. Customs to dialogue with the city.

To contact Scott Miller, City of Oakland zoning manager email smiller@oaklandnet.com or call (510) 238-7733.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

3 hours ago

May 25, 2025

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IN MEMORIAM: Nate Holden, State Senator and Longtime Los Angeles Councilmember, Dies at 95

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.” Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Published

6 days ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Former Los Angeles Councilmember and California State Sen. Nate Holden. File photo.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Former Los Angeles City Councilmember Nathaniel “Nate” Holden, a prominent figure in the city’s politics, passed away at the age of 95, his family confirmed on May 7.

Holden, who represented South Los Angeles for 16 years on the City Council and served one term in the California State Senate, was widely regarded as a forceful advocate for his community.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.”

Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Holden’s journey to political prominence began in the segregated South, where he was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1929. He often recalled the childhood moment when he first heard the governor of Georgia vowing to continue suppressing Black people.

“Doing the best you can for the people. Law and order. Make sure that people’s communities are safe. I did it all,” said Holden, reflecting on his legacy.

Holden is survived by his sons, including former California Assemblymember Chris Holden, who represented a district in Southern California that includes Pasadena and Altadena in Los Angeles County and cities in San Bernardino County.

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

7 days ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.