OAKLAND — The Trump administration announced on June 4 the allocation of $700 million for coal projects, utilizing wartime powers. This funding package includes $75 million designated for a coal export terminal at the Port of Oakland.

The proposed terminal site is located in a portion of the port in California. West Oakland has experienced elevated pollution levels from adjacent port, highway, and industrial operations. An Environmental Protection Agency assessment of West Oakland cites a history of redlining and systemic racism in the area.

Mia Bonta, a California State Assembly Member, said, "By injecting millions of taxpayer dollars into a coal terminal that Oaklanders have fought for a decade to stop, this administration is sentencing West Oakland, one of the most pollution-burdened communities in California, to generational harm." She added, "The families who have fought the hardest to keep this terminal out of their neighborhood will bear the highest cost."

Veronica Eady, Executive Director of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, said, "Now there is even more urgency, particularly since President Trump said he wants it to start this summer." Colin O'Brien, Deputy Managing Attorney for Earthjustice's California regional office, said, "This bad idea to build a dirty, polluting coal facility in an already overburdened community emerged more than a decade ago, and yet we still do not yet have concrete details on facility design or operations." O'Brien also said, "The federal funding announcement is far from the final word because the project still needs dozens of permits, meaning close scrutiny by local regulators and opportunities for the public to weigh in."

The city of Oakland has attempted to ban coal storage for over a decade, enacting a citywide ban on coal handling and storage in 2016. Local developer Phil Tagami purchased the former army base site, where the terminal is planned, after its closure in 1999 and contracted with the city for a shipping terminal. Tagami agreed to ship coal from the site in 2015 following a proposal from Utah state officials. The California Supreme Court ruled in September that the city violated its contract with Tagami by implementing the coal ban. Representatives of the No Coal in Oakland and Keep Coal Out of the East Bay coalitions have met to coordinate opposition strategies.

Organizers petitioned the Bay Area air district in April to enforce stricter air quality regulations for the terminal. Organizers also scheduled a community meeting for June 25 to coordinate demands for regulatory action.