Richmond neighbors march against bomb trains

They fear they could be next. In Lac-Mégantic, Quebec in July 2013, a freight train carrying Baaken formation crude oil from western Canada exploded, killing 47 people and burning down 30 buildings in the small downtown.

Residents of the Atchison Village community are in the "blast zone." The Richmond Kinder Morgan oil train facility has received permission from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to bring these trains to the rail yards adjacent to their homes.

Roger Lin, an attorney with Communities for a Better Environment, explained the litigation against passage of the oil trains.

A drummer from Idle No More led several hundred marchers past the rail yards on a sunny Saturday.

At present lower oil prices have interrupted the shipments. But this pause may not last."If you don't stop it, we will block it."

This is the sort of direct threat to life and limb about which people can work together. Groups involved include: APEN, CBE, ForestEthics, CBD, Sunflower Alliance, Idle No More, Sierra Club SF Bay Area Chapter, 350 Bay Area, Artisan Hub, CNA, Martinez Environmental Group, Bay Area Refinery Corridor Coalition, Crockett-Rodeo United to Defend the Environment, Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community, Movement Generation, AFSCME District 57, Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA), and Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace & Justice.