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Friend --
GREENS DEFEND CURTIS BAY
A group of Green Party activists
joined others in a powerful No Coal for Christmas demonstration in the
industrial neighborhood of Curtis Bay in southwest
Baltimore.
The demonstration helped lead to a
settlement, which was announced several weeks after the protest,
between the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and CSX. CSX
will pay a $15,000 fine over an explosion in December 2021 and will
pay a local nonprofit, the South Baltimore Community Land Trust,
$100,000 for an environmental project. The fees are due to “the effect
of the explosion on the neighborhood and the long-standing
environmental injustices affecting Curtis Bay residents,”
The Baltimore
Sun reported. It's not
clear if the residents of the area will be satisfied with this
settlement because it leaves the coal yard unchanged.
Curtis Bay has been an industrial
area for several generations and is now dominated by the CSX coal
depot, which transfers coal—mainly from the northern Appalachian coal
region to freighters--so that you see miles of cars loaded with coal
on the railroads coming into Curtis Bay. The long term effects of the
coal dust in the air have been severe for the residents, but an
explosion in December 2021, strengthened opposition from the
neighborhood and supporting political and environmental
organizations.
"The CSX explosion was a reminder
of what has already been known: we cannot live safely with a massive
coal pile less than a 1,000 ft from our homes and rec center," said
Curtis Bay resident Terriq Thompson. "We will use our own
environmental justice and zero waste fund to build on the work we've
already been doing for a decade, including a just transition to a
material that can be stored and transferred safely. Until then we will
not stop."
The first anticipated use of the
fund is to convert a blighted vacant building on Curtis Bay's main
street into a community owned center to advance environmental Justice
and Zero Waste work prioritized by residents and workers.
In a previous demonstration,
protester Mike McGuire was shot by an unknown paintball “gunman;” he
suffered damage to his eye and had to spend the night in a hospital.
At the second demonstration, the Baltimore City Police caught another
paintball shooter, and no one was hit or harmed.
The Curtis Bay action is what some
of us have been involved in lately. Special thanks to Bill Barry,
Michael Cornell, Terry Fitzgerald, and Richard Ochs. We make a
difference when we participate in demands for social or economic
justice, peace, democracy, or environmental actions in our
communities. You can, too!
Maryland Green Party
http://www.mdgreens.org/
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