Oakland's coal terminal legal battle draws to a close

"Earlier this summer, a state appeals court found that an Alameda County judge was correct when she ruled in 2023 that Oakland breached its contract with the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal. In that case, Superior Court Judge Noël Wise found that Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal, or OBOT, could keep and extend its lease for a plot of city-owned land to restart its project."

""At the end of the day, the truth and the law and the process worked," Tagami said. "It just took nine years and a couple months." Tagami said that the proposed terminal project will proceed as his team had originally proposed.In the past, Tagami has said there are roughly 15,000 products called bulk commodities that commonly ship through terminals. "We have an agreement and will follow the agreement, and we hope the city will do the same," Tagami said. "It's pretty clearly spelled out.""

The California Supreme Court declined to review a lower-court ruling, allowing a developer to build a marine export terminal on city-owned land. A state appeals court upheld a 2023 finding that the city breached its contract with the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal, enabling OBOT to keep and extend its lease to restart the project. The developer intends to proceed under the existing agreement. Permitting and preparatory work could allow the first cargo ships to depart the new terminal in 2028. Some coal producers described the ruling as a major victory.

Read at The Oaklandside