Coal Kills Baltimore

05/24/2026

05/22/2026

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05/17/2026

Conflict and war between powerful men who place the well being of people and the planet far behind their own interests are leading to a sharp rise in the burning of coal. The climate will not wait for us to get this right. We must keep pushing.

Major Asian ​liquefied natural gas (LNG) importers Japan and South Korea ramped up coal-fired power generation in April and into early May, ‌market data showed, as the Iran war disrupted supplies of the super-chilled fuel and boosted prices.

05/10/2026

"If this system needs to be burned down, why are we grabbing fire hoses to put out the fire?"
- Terrel Askew

With full hearts and boundless gratitude, Coal Kills Baltimore thanks our partner Terrel Askew, organizer for economic justice with United Workers, for five years of insight, wisdom and guidance with Coal Kills Baltimore.

The system - regardless of who is in charge - is designed to thwart the work and demoralize those who engage in it. That work is the liberation of oppressed people and ecosystems from environmental harm.

Born out of disillusionment with Sunrise Movement Baltimore, Coal Kills Baltimore's campaign was founded in 2021 on the premise that a community’s right to a clean and healthy environment must be acknowledged and protected.

Instead of working to press the Maryland Department of the Environment to control coal dust emissions from the CSX export piers in Curtis Bay, we realized the imperative is to permanently shut down the operation.

The effort has been quixotic, to say the least, but our moral foundation has kept us on the path forward. That path is full of weeds, dead ends, untrustworthy maps and guides, with breadcrumb trails that don't lead home. Our deliberate approach to navigation, through uncounted hours of conversation and personal exploration, have kept us from being derailed and intimidated by those with more money and influence, who insist their way is the only way.

Terrel has given us sharper eyes with which to see and the strength to stand faithful to our own convictions. We are keenly aware of our weaknesses, one of which is that we are not base builders, a critical aspect of the work if the disenfranchised people doing all the living and dying are going to have their say. Still, in our little way, we try to help protect Curtis Bay and all the communities of Baltimore and confront the existential harm being done by coal to the planet.

Coal Kills Baltimore also works in support of the Baltimore Forest School (https://www.baltimoreforestschool.org/) and, by extension, the Baltimore Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights.

As announced by the city's Office of Sustainability, "On April 27, 2026, the Baltimore City Council passed a resolution formally adopting the Baltimore Children’s Outdoor Bill of Rights as official city policy—affirming that every child deserves access to clean air, water, and green spaces. Efforts are now underway to implement these rights, including a forthcoming summit to support citywide action."

We shall see.

In the meantime, we seek grant money to continue our effort to definitively prove the coal we recently found in the nearly lifeless sediment of Curtis Bay and Curtis Creek comes from the CSX export pier. It sounds obvious, but it's not a statement of fact until grounded in science. With that, we will have built a foundation for further legal and moral action.

We never would have gotten anywhere without Terrel. He leaves our team enriched in accomplishment and spirit.

- John Scheinman, Olivia Yates
Coal Kills Baltimore

04/25/2026

Mark your calendars and please join us at a benefit concert for the Baltimore Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights. Baltimore trumpet player extraordinaire Brandon Woody, whose debut album is out on Blue Note, will be performing. Jazz and justice fans, take note. This concert is the culmination of Nature Everywhere Week in Baltimore, and we hope to see you there. Ticket information is in the link below, more in the thread.

Join us for a night of live jazz with Blue Note artist Brandon Woody and Upendo — all proceeds support the Baltimore Outdoor Bill of Rights.

04/03/2026

Little life, toxic heavy metals found in new study of Curtis Bay waters
BALTIMORE, MD., March 16, 2026 – A near complete absence of animal life as well as heavy metals that exceeded Environmental Protection Agency benchmark levels were found in a new pilot study that sampled six sediment sites in Curtis Bay and Curtis Creek near and around the CSX Curtis Bay Piers, the second-largest coal export piers in the United States.

The study was commissioned by environmental justice campaign Coal Kills Baltimore and conducted in a partnership with the Johns Hopkins Baltimore Social-Environmental Collaborative facilitated by the Baltimore Forest School. It was written by Benjamin Zaitchik, the chair of the Morton K. Blaustein Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University and lead investigator for the Baltimore Social-Environmental Collaborative; Maya Gomes, an associate professor in the department; and Upal Ghosh, professor in the Department of Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Titled “Coal in Curtis Bay: Impacts on sediment and marine environment,” the study found clear evidence of visible coal and coal-derived debris in the sediment samples as well as excessive levels of toxic metals arsenic, chromium, copper, nickel and lead. The arsenic levels were notably higher near the coal piers than in surrounding areas, although it is not possible to attribute the elevated arsenic directly to the coal as opposed to other industries in the area at this time. Arsenic, chromium and nickel all are classified as carcinogenic.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) analysis of two sediment samples to detect and quantify pollutants revealed, in total, the presence of 16 priority pollutants, although not exceeding concentrations above the Marine Sediment Screening Benchmarks of the EPA.

While the study, which has not been through peer review, was not designed to confirm the exact source of the coal, Coal Kills Baltimore calls on the Maryland Department of the Environment to conduct further investigation and analysis to pinpoint its origin and determine whether it is in violation of the Code of Maryland Regulations. The group also urges entities concerned with the health of Baltimore coastal ecosystems to finance independent follow-up studies.

“Coal is not supposed to be found in the waters and sediment of Curtis Bay and Curtis Creek, but we were not surprised,” said John Scheinman, co-founder of Coal Kills Baltimore and a member of Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s Environmental Advisory Council. “We believe its presence violates state regulations. The elevated toxic metals in the sediment are elements naturally present in coal. When there is virtually no life, except a few little worms, it’s not exactly representative of a healthy coastal community. So, who is responsible, and what’s going to be done about it?”

Curtis Bay and neighboring Brooklyn are plagued by poisons discharged daily by the industries on their waterfront, one of the worst polluters being the CSX coal export piers. Dust that blows from CSX’s massive coal piles - in violation of its state operating permit - saturates the air breathed by residents.

Life expectancy in the Curtis Bay area is up to 17 years shorter than in the wealthiest neighborhoods of Baltimore, according to Baltimore City Health Department data.

"We all know about the legacy of past pollution on the Baltimore Harbor, but we know surprisingly little about how specific activities today are affecting the harbor's water, sediment, and ecosystems,” Zaitchik said. “Curtis Bay is a vitally important place to understand those relationships, and to understand them we need measurements like this."

The sediment and marine environment pilot study initiated by Coal Kills Baltimore was designed to complement the report released in December 2023 by South Baltimore community groups working with Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland scientists that definitively showed that CSX coal dust is polluting Curtis Bay and Brooklyn.

“Our sampling was small, and we readily admit this was a one-day snapshot, but there are powerful takeaways from what we found,” Scheinman said. “The scientists tell us the sediment is nearly dead, and coal and metals can change the characteristics of the native sediments and that impacts the benthic community, which is the food source for crabs and fish. If crabs, oysters and other life forms stop living on the bottom, the fish on top don’t survive. Any fish caught in these waters should not be eaten. That may not be news to a lot of people in Curtis Bay, but if nothing is being done about it, we’re trying to issue a wake-up call.

“This is a preliminary investigation into the health of Curtis Bay waters, and the results are not good and should lead people to want to act now. The earlier community-led study found coal dust permeating the air in Curtis Bay. Ours found coal in the sediment. Environmental justice isn’t very fashionable right now, but clean air, water and soil should be baseline human rights, especially in a state that places itself at the forefront of these issues and climate change policy.”

The scientists, along with representatives from Coal Kills Baltimore, gathered their samples for the study on March 26, 2025.

The study was realized through the support of the Johns Hopkins University CHARMED Center (Community Health: Addressing Regional Maryland Environmental Determinants of Disease). CHARMED conducts community-engaged research to better understand links between environmental exposures and adverse health outcomes with the goal of improving the health of vulnerable people in communities across the greater Maryland region.

Maryland regulators in recent years have begun to acknowledge the prevalence of coal dust in Curtis Bay’s air, but a new report suggests the fossil fuel has contaminated nearby waters, too.

03/23/2026

Coal is deadly and ruinous at every step of its life cycle. Here is footage of West Virginia mountains beheaded for coal. Where once was the richness of life is the barren desert of extraction.

This is an active mountain top removal coal mine about 20 miles southwest of Beckley, West Virginia. Unfortunately, it is one of many in the area. If you g...

03/17/2026

"Super-polluting plumes were also seen in the US, the largest detected in 2025 occurring in Texas and leaking 5.5 tonnes of methane per hour, equivalent to running about a million fuel-guzzling SUVs." - The Guardian

Here's what humanity reinforces over and over again: Killing people - one or thousands, or millions or everyone - is surprisingly easy. Keeping them alive requires cooperation, will and care.

How the choices about large-scale killing are made and who gets put into position to make them are profound questions.

Large-scale killing is tied to economic and political self-interest as well as relative anonymity for both the killed and killers. In large-scale killing, we rarely learn the names of those killed or the names of those who carried out the killing.

Name a child blown up in the Tehran elementary school for girls. Name one person called a narco-terrorist without proof killed in Caribbean boats or who fired the missiles. Killings such as these become representations of government and industrial prerogative or failure, without accountability, and they are depersonalized, often by their scale.

Yet, when the World Trade Center was taken down by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, the New York Times and other newspapers gamely tried to publish the names and pictures of every single person killed. On anniversary memorials, the names of all 2,753 people who died in the towers are still read aloud.

Why was that so important for that large-scale killing but not others?

Large-scale killings that result from environmental destruction also become depersonalized representations of government and corporate prerogative or failure, without accountability. They would seem indiscriminate - environmental collateral losses of life - but closer examination so often shows that on local levels, racist and socioeconomic choices lead to harm in communities targeted for their inability to defend themselves. The communities are sacrificed because they don't have the political connections to stop the placement of toxic industry that leads to death, and the cost-benefit analysis of government and the polluters immorally tilts against life.

Yet, methane leaks and the burning of coal and other fossil fuels cause indiscriminate, transnational killing on a mass scale. A leak in Texas will have consequences such as deadly heatwaves in other parts of the world. Unceasing emitting of greenhouse gasses anywhere can have deadly consequences everywhere.

Who causes the leaks and who has the power to stop them and who doesn't act and why are all profound questions.

Human beings have to suspend their natural inclination for avoiding harm every time they get into an airplane or a car or on a roller-coaster. They tell themselves safeguards are in place, that civilized society designs structures and protocols to prevent their death.

But what of the "leaking 5.5 tonnes of methane per hour, equivalent to running about a million fuel-guzzling SUVs"? What of the 28 million short tons of coal shipped out of Baltimore for burning each year? What of the sum of all collective fossil fuels burned daily on the planet? Of the trees cut down in rain forests?

Where are the safeguards, the structures and protocols other than the perceived capacity of the planet to manage the load?

They don't exist or are violated or removed, and the reality is the planet can't manage the load for much longer.

Many of us are terrified of what is coming - an uninhabitable Earth, searing with temperatures hostile to all but the most resilient existing life forms.

This is why we founded Coal Kills Baltimore: to fight for sacrificed communities like Curtis Bay and push back against the immense forces so enriched by fossil fuel industries that they are willing to overlook the resulting harms and large-scale death (and to address our own consciences and anxieties). We have given ourselves a seemingly insurmountable challenge.

In 2021, the Guardian reported out a study by Harvard University, in collaboration with UK universities, that found that fossil fuel pollution was responsible for about 1 in 5 deaths globally in 2018 (roughly 8.7 million deaths).

"Scientists have established links between pervasive air pollution from burning fossil fuels and cases of heart disease, respiratory ailments and even the loss of eyesight. Without fossil fuel emissions, the average life expectancy of the world’s population would increase by more than a year, while global economic and health costs would fall by about $2.9 trillion."

There is anonymity in those 8.7 million deaths, which somehow makes them easier to accept. Maybe the environmental crisis needs its own Anne Frank. Maybe we need to toll the bells and read aloud each name.

Something needs to change.

Let's go back to the lede: Here's what humanity reinforces over and over again: Killing people - one or thousands, or millions or everyone - is surprisingly easy. Keeping them alive requires cooperation, will and care.
, Maryland Dept. Of The Environment, Wes Moore,

Exclusive: Fixing a leak can be simple and equivalent to closing a coal power station, making lack of action maddening, say analysts

03/09/2026

Maybe we're just silly dreamers, but how much nicer would Baltimore be without this obscenity blowing its pollution stack all over the place?

03/02/2026

Win Waste, which operates the incinerator seen along I-95, bordering Curtis Bay, shares a lobbyist with Johns Hopkins University.

“It’s disturbing to see Johns Hopkins, whose researchers are trying to quantify health harms from that incinerator, sharing a lobbying firm with the incinerator’s owners,” Browning said. “Student tuition and donor dollars are funding the research, and the same lobbying shop.”

The F Minus audit also found that CSX retained Capitol Strategies in 2025 to oppose legislation that would have imposed a tax on coal transport, but the firm’s activity reports made no mention of the bill even though testimony records show lobbyist Sushant Sidh appearing before the House Environment and Transportation Committee to argue against it. In a 2023 interview, Sidh described his firm’s conflict-of-interest checks as “exhaustive.”

The opacity also extends to campaign finance. The auditors found that in 2024, Gov. Wes Moore received contributions from lobbyists at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, a Washington firm whose clients include ExxonMobil and multiple fracking companies, and which F Minus describes as “one of the most pro-Trump and most pro-fossil-fuel Congressional lobbying firms.”

The opaque system allows industry operatives to shape legislative decisions with little public oversight, a nonprofit research group has found.