Oakland A’s Sued Over Waterfront Stadium Project

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Oakland A’s Sued Over Waterfront Stadium Project
05 Apr 2022
5 min read

News Synopsis

A coalition of shipping-industry groups, along with port managers, and trucking operators are asking a California court to halt plans by the Oakland Athletics baseball team to build a stadium at the city's port.

The groups filed suit against the A’s, the city of Oakland, the city council and the Port of Oakland on environmental grounds over a project aimed at providing a new venue to the team that would keep it in the city. Union Pacific Corp also joined the opposition effort with its own separate suit against the project. 

Oakland A’s President David Kaval said, “It's another sign of how challenging it is to do business in California.” He further said, “You have the largest polluters in California suing us, using environmental law. It just shows you the entire system is broken.”

The groups claim that the city violated guidelines in its environmental impact report on the project, which includes a 35,000-seat stadium, retail and office space, new residences and a 400-room hotel.

The groups further said that the environmental review fails to adequately analyse or mitigate public safety risks and other impacts associated with the increased vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic crossing the heavily used Union Pacific railroad tracks and does not address the impact of an active baseball stadium alongside pot facilities with large cargo ships nearby. 

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