Leaders of a Bay Area port city listened to several hours of testimony Tuesday night, imploring them to either enact or reject a proposed ordinance that would ban the handling of coal.
In the end, the Richmond City Council decided it needed another month before voting on the proposed ban, which would choke off a key export point for Utah-mined coal.
Ban proponents contend coal-dust emissions associated with the Levin-Richmond Terminal pose a threat to public health and safety. Terminal operators and their labor union allies say the city lacks the data to show coal dust is even escaping from its rail-to-ship operations, much less harming public health in this city filled with heavy industry on the San Francisco Bay’s northeast shore.