Coal Terminals in the Port of Virginia

Overview

The Dominion Terminal Associates and Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals are located in Southeast Newport News. Norfolk Southern Terminal Pier 6 is located between the neighborhoods of Lambert's Point and Ghent in Norfolk, with Lambert's Point typically being on the downwind side. The terminals together export more coal through the Port of Virginia than anywhere else in the U.S.^[1] This coal is largely metallurgical coal, also known as bituminous coal or coking coal, mined in the Appalachian Basin in West Virginia. It is transported to Southeast Newport News by CSX and Lambert's Point by Norfolk Southern.

Satellite map (Google) of the Dominion Terminal and Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals in Southeast Newport News
Satellite map (Google) of the Dominion Terminal and Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals in Southeast Newport News
Satellite map (Google) of the Norfolk Southern Terminal Pier 6 in Lambert's Point

Dominion Terminal Associates

The Dominion Terminal Associates coal terminal is operated by Dominion Terminal Associates and owned by the coal mining companies Alpha Metallurgical Resources and Core Natural Resources. Dominion Terminal Associates ships bituminous coal, which is off-loaded from CSX railcars and stored in large piles before being loaded onto ships for export. The facility was built in 1982 on the old Chessie System railyard, located at the time between the Chessie System Coal Terminal and the recently proposed Massey Coal Terminal, now known as Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals Piers IX and X.^[2]

The area was initially developed as a coal export pier by the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad, which was critical to the industrialization and growth of Newport News. The Chessie System railyard was expanded in the 1970s^[3] and shipped goods other than coal. An article in the Daily Press from July 22, 1979, describes laborers loading pork, who "sweated and greyed in air thick with humidity and fine dust from the moving coal."^[4]^[5]

The current terminal footprint is approximately 100 acres, and, while the coal market has fluctuated, Dominion Terminal Associates claims to have shipped an average of over 12 million tons of coal per year since 2008.^[6] The facility operates under a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VA DEQ) minor New Source Review (NSR) air emissions permit and a Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) water quality permit. Wet dust suppression generates a large volume of water contaminated with heavy metals and oils, which are removed as the runoff is passed through a series of three settling ponds prior to discharge into the James River.^[7]

Winds commonly blow from the terminals toward Southeast Newport News, carrying coal dust that deposits throughout the neighborhood. Residents have made frequent coal-dust related complaints since the 1980s,^[8] and earlier.^[9]^[10] Initial dust mitigation approaches at the terminal were inadequate, with nearby residents suffering deeply from coal dust pollution.^[11] In response, the State Air Pollution Control Board (APCB) conducted a large-scale dust suppression study^[12] at the Dominion Terminal Associates and Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals in the mid-1980s. The outcome of this study was a wet dust suppression strategy that is for the most part still used today and has been shared with facility operators and regulators in other locations.^[13]

Despite the wet dust suppression system, residents of Southeast Newport News continue to express concerns about the impacts coal dust on their quality of life and health. Dominion Terminal Associates has evaded further pressure from residents and advocates to do more, including since the 2000s calls to install a physical barrier like a wind fence or dome.^[14]

Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals

Kinder Morgan operates Piers IX and X adjacent to the Dominion Terminal Associates coal terminal. Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals exports bituminous coal, as well as other goods like cement. The terminal has the capacity to store 1.4 million tons of coal, exporting up to 16 million tons annually.^[15] The facility was built in 1982 and formerly owned and operated by Massey Energy and referred to as the Massey Terminal.

The Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals and Dominion Terminal Associates facilities are located side by side, they both stage coal in large piles, and use the same water suppression system for coal dust mitigation (described above). It is difficult to distinguish the impacts of one terminal versus the other on residents living nearby. Complaints and VA DEQ inspectors responding to those complaints typically visit both facilities.

According to a 2014 report by the Sightline Institute, Kinder Morgan's activities across North America include a record of pollution, bribery, labor violations and unsafe working conditions, fraud and theft, and pipeline failures resulting in deaths, felonies, and environmental damages.^[16]

Norfolk Southern Pier 6 Terminal

The Norfolk Southern Pier 6 Terminal is the largest coal export facility in the U.S. The location of Lambert's Point was selected by Norfolk and Western (N&W) Railway, a predecessor Norfolk Southern, who needed more land to handle their growing coal export activities. Shipments began in 1886, with the Lambert's Point neighborhood developing as a company town for Black railroad workers.^[17]

Over time, the terminal facility grew, and construction of the N&W Pier 6 Terminal was completed in 1962. Because the Pier 6 Terminal was constructed prior to the U.S. Clean Air Act, it is exempt from some air permitting requirements. The facility continues to operate under the same VA DEQ minor NSR air emissions permit approved in 1992,^[18] as NSR permits do not expire as long as facility operations are not significantly changed.

Coal arrives at the Norfolk Southern Pier 6 Terminal by rail, where massive rotary dumpers unload the coal-filled railcars directly onto conveyor belts. From there, the coal is sorted, blended, and loaded onto ships for export internationally. Unlike at the Dominion Terminal Associates and Kinder Morgan Bulk Terminals, coal is never staged in large dunes.

Wind often blows from southwest, uplifting coal dust from railcars, conveyor systems, and ship-loading operations and depositing that dust in Lambert's Point. Residents have made frequent complaints concerning coal dust emissions and impacts at least since the 1980s.

Residents, activists, and advocates with New Virginia Majority and Sierra Club Virginia Chapter have called for the coal-filled railcars and dumpers to be enclosed, compelling the Virginia General Assembly to form the Joint Subcommittee Studying Measures to Reduce Emissions from Coal-Carrying Railroad Cars in 1992. This Subcommittee was charged with evaluating strategies for reducing coal dust from moving railcars, and recommending legislative or regulatory changes.^[19] In 1997, the Virginia General Assembly passed Virginia Senate Joint Resolution No. 257, requiring Norfolk Southern to submit annual reports to the on coal dust pollution blown from moving trains.

Despite decades of reporting, the Subcommittee has never recommended specific regulatory or enforcement activities. Instead, the Subcommittee's recommendations have avoided binding mandates, often citing economic costs and technological feasibility constraints significantly shaped by Norfolk Southern. In 2020, the Virginia General Assembly passed House Joint Resolution 25, renewing and expanding reporting and other requirements, particularly increasing opportunities for residents to submit complaints. The Resolution states explicitly that residents continue to suffer because of coal dust pollution. Read more: Virginia General Assembly

Recent Safety Issues

In 2024, there were two serious injuries reported in separate incidents at the Norfolk Southern Pier 6 Terminal.^[20]^[21] In the July 2024 incident, a "conductor was struck by a coal hopper that moved unexpectedly during gravity-fed switching." As a result, the conductor had portions of his right leg and right arm amputated.^[20]

Safety Bulletin 2024-05: "The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is investigating a serious injury that occurred in the early afternoon of July 19, 2024. A 50-year-old utility conductor, with 6 years of service, was struck by a railcar during coal dumping operations. The utility conductor was working between and around railcars during a gravity switching operation—pulling pins and setting and releasing handbrakes using a brake stick—when he was struck by the second of two rolling, uncoupled cars."^[22]

Safety Bulletin 2024-06: "The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is investigating a serious injury that occurred during switching operations on the night of August 27, 2024. A 22-year-old conductor, with approximately two months of qualified service, was pinned between two railcars during switching operations. The injury occurred at a yard designed with a 0.25% grade where the emptied cars are classified, with limited lighting and close track centers. Prior to the incident, the conductor directed his locomotive engineer to shove a cut of cars toward another cut of cars on the track for coupling. However, the cars failed to couple. At the time, the conductor had established three-step protection with his engineer and was attempting to adjust the knuckle on another cut of cars, which was missing its pin. The cut of cars that failed to couple rolled back, pinning him in-between the two cars."^[23]

Coal Ships

Ships are typically in port in Southeast Newport News and Lambert's Point, Norfolk for 2–5 days (possibly longer) for loading. There are records that 2–4 days are required to load large ships (for iron ore), with a minimum of 24 hours needed,^[24] and three days round-the-clock needed for large container ships.^[25] It is not clear if loading is always continuous, but we speculate that ships avoid sitting at port longer than needed. Ships may not be able to be loaded under inclement weather, which at least for petcoke, a similar material to coal, includes very hot days.^[26] Bulk carriers used for coal transport include Handymax, Panamax, and Capesize.^[27] Because coal is shipped in covered holds, coal dust emissions during ocean transport are assumed to be minimal.^[28]