OAKLAND’S ENVIRONMENTALISM COULD CAUSE IT TO GO BANKRUPT:

But here’s where things get really bad for Oakland. The long delay has caused major damage to the coal producer in Kentucky which was contracted to ship its coal through the new terminal. That company is now in bankruptcy. A bankruptcy judge has decided this is largely Oakland’s fault.

Last month, Bankruptcy Judge Joan A. Lloyd of the Western District of Kentucky ruled that Oakland’s “improper and unjustified conduct significantly disrupted and burdened” the Kentucky-based company that had been contracted to ship coal out of Oakland’s terminal, forcing it into bankruptcy.

The judge suggested the damages were between $654 million, before interest — what the coal company is pushing for — and $230 million, what Oakland’s own expert estimated the coal company had lost.

The exact amount hasn’t been determined yet but it looks very likely that Oakland is going to be on the hook for several hundred million dollars, maybe even half a billion or more. Needless to say, the city doesn’t have this money. It was on the verge of insolvency a year ago when it was looking at a budget shortfall just shy of $100 million. So there’s no possible way it can pay this judgment (which again isn’t final yet). If the judgment happens, Oakland will almost certainly have to declare bankruptcy itself.

Make the rubble bounce.