Bay Area

Opinion: Let’s Set the Record Straight: Coal is Already Shipped Through Oakland and It Is Safe

Published

6 years ago

November 21, 2019

Let’s set the record straight. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has authorized the shipment of millions of tons of coal throughout the Bay Area for years. These shipments include coal cars running through the city of Oakland, through Jack London Square, the Army Base and other rail points. Over the many years that this has occurred, there have been no reported adverse health effects, nor have there been reports of unhealthy levels of coal dust registered on any of the air monitors operating in West Oakland.

For these reasons and many more, I state unequivocally that the Op Ed in the Post on Nov. 7, ‘We Still Object to Coal’, disregards science, the truth and the welfare of the citizens of Oakland! There are no inaccuracies in the “ITS” (Insight Terminal Solutions) Post article of Oct. 31, ‘Bulk Commodity Terminal Operator Agrees to “Oakland Protocol” Phase-in Plan to Ban Coal’. To the contrary, the inaccuracies are in the article by opponents of the multi-commodity bulk terminal.

But you need not take my word for it. Renowned local physicians Dr. Washington Burns and Dr. Geoffrey Watson, who have dedicated their lives to caring for Oakland’s underserved residents, state without equivocation that coal does not pose a health threat to Oakland residents; neither as it is currently shipped and certainly not under the process that will be used by ITS. As well, when the case was brought before the federal court on Oakland’s frivolous argument that coal was dangerous, Ninth Circuit Judge Vincent Chhabria ruled that the City failed to produce “evidence that the proposed coal operations would pose a substantial health or safety danger.”

The new state-of-the-art Oakland Protocol process is safe. ITS will use covered railcars and a fully encapsulated delivery system that eliminates the possibility of coal dust release. The terminal is also good for Oakland and the community. It will bring hundreds of millions of dollars in city revenue and community benefits.

Building the terminal also has the benefit of using coal to eliminate coal. Under the provisions of the 5-3-0 plan, 5 million tons of coal a year would be shipped through the terminal for the first 10 years of operation, and 3 million tons per year for the next 10 years, no more coal would be shipped through the ITS facility for the remainder of the 66- year lease. This would amount to a 92 percent reduction, and eliminate an estimated 900 million tons of coal, that would otherwise legally be allowed to be shipped through the terminal in accordance with the ruling of the federal judge. Coal will help pay the cost to build the terminal, but it will also be eliminated in 20 years.

The opposition author also suggests that shipment in covered cars is dangerous because of the potential for spontaneous combustion. This is nonsense! Rail cars have been covered for decades, enclosing various commodities, including coal. Coal is transported along the Mississippi River in covered containers, and by sea in covered containers without combustion or other danger. The manufacturer that ITS will use, Eco-Fab, has been covering rail cars in Europe since the 1970s without incident. This claim of potential spontaneous combustion, like the safety issue, is made up to advance the world view of coal opponents. It has nothing whatsoever to do with what will happen in Oakland

Failure to issue permits to build a terminal will have devastating legal implications for Oakland. The city will have to repay the state of California over $242 million that the state advanced for development. The city will owe $500 million in damages to California Capital Investment Group for wrongfully denying the development and not issuing the appropriate permits. The terminal, under its signed 66-year lease with the city, has secured all CEQA permits to operate a multi-commodity terminal that can handle upwards of 15 million tons annually, all of which could be coal per our lease if the city forces the owners to go through a long and costly legal challenge. If the city fails to act, it could jeopardize the option of phasing out coal under the 5-3-0 plan.

More to the point however, the City would needlessly lose out on hundreds of high paying jobs, invaluable job training and additional revenue streams that, over the life of the lease, could total hundreds of millions of dollars. These dollars could be earmarked specifically for the City’s most underserved and needy citizens.

Thus, the truth is the risk of perpetuating this fraud by the City of Oakland is stunning. It has been this author’s observation that citizens in Oakland, particularly those who would most benefit and who are most underserved, in fact very much desire to see this terminal built.

See the article by Pastor LJ Jennings, entitled ‘Our Community, Our Voice, We Speak for Us!’ in the Oakland Post.

John Siegel

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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

5 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.

Oakland Post

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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

2 weeks 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.