Oakland Athletics sued by shipping groups

Groups representing truckers, ocean carriers, terminal operators, longshore workers and other port-related businesses, many of them union-organized, argue in one of the suits that the city shouldn’t have approved the environmental impact report for the Oakland Waterfront Ballpark District Project.

A $12 billion plan by the Oakland Athletics to build a stadium, luxury condominiums, office and retail space on the city’s waterfront is threatened by lawsuits months before the team expects to win final approvals to move forward.

The lawsuit was filed in Alameda County Superior Court by the East Oakland Stadium Alliance; Schnitzer Steel, a metal shredding facility in West Oakland; Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, which represents port workers; the Harbor Trucking Association; California Trucking Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union. 

It comes in response to the Oakland City Council approving a 3,500-page environmental impact report (EIR), moving the Howard Terminal waterfront project along and meeting state requirements, specifically the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.

Justin Berton, a spokesperson for the Oakland mayor’s office, said they had expected the lawsuit. “The city stands by the integrity of its process and analysis” that led the city council to certify an environmental impact report on the project, he said.

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