The possibility of coal shipments through a new $500 million shipping and logistics center in West Oakland is turning environmentalists against one of the city’s biggest real estate projects.
Shipping center operator Terminal Logistic Solutions has been in talks with four counties in Utah, which approved a $53 million investment in April to move materials including coal through the facility. But the deal hasn’t been finalized, said Jerry Bridges, a former Port of Oakland executive director and president of Terminal Logistic Solutions. Bridges said he hasn’t spoken with the Utah officials for several months.
The terminal, on the site of a former army base that closed in 1999, could also receive shipments of pot ash, limestone and agricultural products from Utah, said Bridges. He added that if coal was shipped through the facility, it would be enclosed, which would mitigate the environmental impacts.