Coal exports through Richmond are higher than ever. We urgently need residents to show up at Richmond's City Council meeting today, Tuesday, April 17th, to speak or support your neighbors as they speak. It's important for city officials to see the level of concern about coal and health in our city.
A No Coal In Richmond working group plans to turn out at open forum — the public comment session at the beginning of the agenda — to bring the issue of coal exports through our city to the attention of local leaders and other community members.
Our ask is to see the permits for the Levin-Richmond coal terminal. These are public documents but the city’s Planning Commission has ignored multiple requests to produce them. On Tuesday we will ask the city council to instruct city staff (possibly at a separate city council meeting) to produce these documents.
Come out to share your concerns about the health and environmental problems associated with the coal that travels through our community in open-top rail cars.
If you wish to speak, show up at Richmond City Hall at 6:30 to fill out a speaker card, or come at 7:00 to show solidarity with our request. For more information email melissa.yu@sierraclub.org and visit https://ncir.weebly.com.
Image: Aerial view, via Google Maps, of the open-top coal/petcoke piles at the Levin-Richmond terminal.