By Terilyn Chen
We've just learned that an ordinance banning the transportation and handling of coal and petroleum coke may go before the City Council by the end of this month. Now more than ever we need your help to protect our communities from the deadly consequences of coal dust pollution. Please use our action form to send a message urging the Richmond City Council to act NOW to stop toxic coal dust pollution!
The amount of coal coming into our community and piling up on our bayshore has skyrocketed in recent years. In 2017, the Levin terminal shipped over 1.1 million metric tons of coal. That's a 300% increase over 2016 coal shipments. While export data for last December is not yet available, the facility was on track to match or exceed 2017 exports in 2018.
To get from coal mines in Utah to the port in Richmond for export overseas, the Levin-Richmond Terminal Corporation transports the dirty fossil fuel in open-top rail cars that travel through our communities as well as countless others. Along the way, each rail car on these hundred-car trains can lose anywhere from 500 to 2,000 pounds of coal in the form of toxic dust.
Upon reaching the waterfront terminal — which is less than a mile away from residential neighborhoods — the coal is heaped in massive open-air piles. Bay breezes carry the toxic coal dust into surrounding communities and into the bay. Coal dust includes carcinogenic heavy metals like arsenic, lead, and mercury. Long-term exposure to coal dust can cause serious chronic health problems, including asthma, lung and heart disease, as well as cancer.
Richmond residents deserve clean air and a healthy environment in which to learn, work, rest, and play. If we get the city council to pass this ordinance, we can get coal out of Richmond for good. Send a message now urging the city council to act now to protect our communities.
