West County Toxics Coalition* Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
For immediate release: Saturday, May 31, 2014
Contact Henry Clark, West County Toxics Coalition (925) 435-5757; (925) 978-4129
Bradley Angel, Greenaction (415) 447-3904; cell (415) 722-5270
Megan Zapanta, Asian Pacific Environmental Network (619) 322-1696
Over 125 Community Members & Environmental Justice Activists Rally
and Block Entrance to Kinder Morgan’s Rail Yard to Oppose Crude Oil By Rail Shipments:
Richmond, CA – Richmond residents were joined by environmental and climate justice groups and residents of other
Contra Costa County communities threatened by crude oil by rail shipments in a protest today at the Kinder Morgan rail
yard in Richmond to demand an end to the importation of explosive, toxic crude oil by rail through Bay Area
communities. With train cars loaded with hazardous chemicals behind them, protesters rallied and blocked the entrance to
the rail yard. Residents and activists spoke of the risk posed by crude by rail, and called for crude oil to stay in the ground
and for transitioning to clean renewable energy.
Ignoring the well-documented risks posed by rail shipments of crude oil, in February the Bay Area Air Quality
Management District (BAAQMD) issued a permit to Kinder Morgan to operate its crude-by-rail project in Richmond, a
working-class community of color already burdened by pollution caused by the fossil fuel industry. BAAQMD issued the
permit without public notice or opportunities for public comment.
Protesters are raising awareness about the serious safety and health impacts that crude oil shipments pose to everyone in
the region, especially residents living next to the rail yards and train tracks.
“If our government won’t protect communities from this toxic threat, the people will!” said Dr. Henry Clark, Director of
the West County Toxics Coalition that is based in North Richmond. “We demand environmental and climate justice now.”
“Richmond residents are already over-burdened when it comes to pollution in our community and toxins in our bodies.
Trains carrying explosive Bakkan crude oil in and out of our neighborhoods are outright outrageous. It's like BAAQMD
just pulled the pin off of a bomb, allowing it to roll all around town, knowing it's only a matter of time before it stops
ticking, and explode on all of us.” Sandy Saeteurn, Richmond resident and community organizer with the Asian Pacific
Environmental Network.”
“Our government must stop supporting polluters and start protecting communities from shipments of crude oil that come
from environmentally-disastrous fracking and tar sands mining,” said Bradley Angel, Executive Director of Greenaction
for Health and Environmental Justice. “We want clean, renewable energy, not dirty oil that should stay in the ground.”
The number of trains carrying crude oil has risen dramatically due to increased drilling in both the Alberta tar sands in
Canada and the Bakken shale oil area of North Dakota. The number of serious accidents has increased. Since last
summer, several major derailments have involved Bakken crude, which is more volatile than conventional oil. The first, in
Lac-Megantic, Quebec, sparked a fire that killed 47 people and leveled the center of the small lakeside town.
Tar sands is a thick, gritty crude that’s produced in western Canada. Tar sands production is having a major environmental
impact in Canada, generates significant carbon dioxide emissions and is more difficult to clean up when spilled in water
because it’s heavy and sinks. Bakken crude, extracted through hydraulic fracturing of shale rock, is more volatile than
conventional oil. Most of the Bakken formation is in North Dakota.
The action was sponsored by West County Toxics Coalition, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice,
Sunflower Alliance, 350 Bay Area, Idle No More/SF Bay, ANSWER/SF, Communities for a Better Environment,
Environmental Justice Air Quality Coalition, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Global Community Monitor, Forest
Ethics, Amazon Watch, Occupy San Francisco Environmental Justice Working Group