A decision by Judge Noël Wise of California’s Alameda County Superior Court on January 23, 2024 will extend to 2026 a lease held by developer Phil Tagami, who has sought for 10 years to build a 34-acre marine terminal at the port, from which another company would ship coal mined in the U.S. overseas, the Mercury News reported.
The judge sided with Tagami’s claim that Oakland unfairly terminated its lease agreement with the developer and was responsible for missed deadlines that it then used against him in his attempt to pursue the project. Oakland basically tried to ban coal from city limits.
Judge Wise offered Tagami a choice. He could continue to try to build the terminal, or take nearly $318,000 in damages and walk away. Tagami chose the former.
According to the Mercury News, he said he always intended to see the terminal through to construction but insists that the decision of whether to ship coal would be made by Insight Terminal Solutions.
Anti-coal activists have promised to continue to fight the coal terminal.
