Complaints: Difference between revisions

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* [[:File:Air Complaint 34943948.pdf|Complaint from Mrs. Gloria Tabb (Massey Terminal), May 9, 1983]]
* [[:File:Air Complaint 34943948.pdf|Complaint from Mrs. Gloria Tabb (Massey Terminal), May 9, 1983]]
* [[:File:Air Complaint 39262826.pdf|Complaint from Ms. Maurice Cary (Massey Terminal), May 9, 1983]]
* [[:File:Air Complaint 39262826.pdf|Complaint from Ms. Maurice Cary (Massey Terminal), May 9, 1983]]
* Open Public Comment Regarding a Proposed Coal Terminal in Nearby Portsmouth, June 17, 1985


==== Lambert's Point ====
==== Lambert's Point ====

Revision as of 02:59, 23 December 2025

Residents' complaints and terminal inspection reports serve as evidence of coal dust impacts over time and are a starting point for tracing institutional responsiveness and/or negligence.

Complaints in the Public Record

Residents and business owners have made formal complaints about coal dust in the public record to government representatives since at least the 1950s. An article in the Daily Press in 1954 describes complaints by the Garden-Shore Civic League to the City of Newport News regarding "smoke and particles" that settle in the Christopher Shores-Stuart Garden area. League members believed most of the particles to be "uncombusted coal blown from the railways' two coal dumping piers."[1] Complaints cover a range of impacts, including health concerns, expenses for added maintenance and coal dust removal costs, and the nuisance of needing to clean dust incessantly.

We count least 20 complaints by residents before the City Councils of Newport News and Norfolk since 2023 and many more submitted to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VA DEQ) since the agency formed in 1990. Prior to that, there are also multiple instances of formal complaints reported to the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board.

Terminal Inspections in Response to Complaints

Some coal dust complaints triggered a visit to the terminal from an inspector from the VA DEQ, with the original complaint described in the inspection report. General terminal inspection reports are also included here.

Documents

Air Pollution Control Board

Southeast Newport News

Lambert's Point

Virginia Department of Environmental Quality

Southeast Newport News

Lambert's Point

City of Newport News

Complaints compiled by the Repair Lab

References