Feds say Hunters Point cleanup ‘milestone’ is near

The Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Navy announced Thursday what federal officials described as a “milestone” step to finalize the cleanup of radioactive toxins at San Francisco’s beleaguered Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.

The remediation plan outlines the agencies’ blueprint to clean up contaminated underwater sediment — insoluble particles at the bottom of the bay — at Parcel F, a 443-acre slice of Hunters Point that contains what officials called the last of the sections of the shipyard that need to be environmentally restored.

“Today we’ve reached a milestone in finalizing the cleanup plan for the final parcel of the Hunters Point site, marking a significant step in ultimately returning this area to productive use for the local community,” EPA administrator Martha Guzman said in a release. “EPA will continue playing our critical oversight role at Hunters Point, to include review of the Navy’s cleanup work, to ensure the community and the Bay are protected.”

The announcement marked the latest development at one of San Francisco’s most environmentally maligned areas, dating back to when the Navy used it as a nuclear testing facility during the mid-20th century.

Community and environmental advocates for years have blasted local and federal leaders for their efforts to clean up the 900-acre swath of land at the southeastern edge of The City, which is home to 30,000 mostly Black San Franiscans who are among the poorest residents.

Bradley Angel, president of San Francisco-based Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, which filed a lawsuit earlier this summer accusing the Navy and EPA of “egregious violations” during their cleanup, said the organization will continue monitor the agencies during this next phase of the project.

He called for them “to do their job to conduct a full, comprehensive and true cleanup that is protective of public health and the environment.”

“The chronic failure of EPA and the Navy to do a proper cleanup is why we sued them this summer, and we will continue to watchdog them and continue the campaign for health and justice for Bayview Hunters Point,” Angel told The Examiner.

The Navy, with the EPA’s oversight, will conduct the cleanup of sediments contaminated with a series of chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyls, copper, lead and mercury. Remediation techniques include dredging — removing sediment from the water — and capping — preventing the spread of the chemicals.

The work will begin in 2027 after “the remedial design and planning documents are completed,” and will take roughly two years, officials wrote in a release.

“The Navy remains committed to protecting public health and the environment, and we will have a long-term monitoring and maintenance program in place to ensure the remedies continue to protect the community and the environment here at Hunter’s Point,” said Danielle Janda, an executive with the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.

The shipyard saga traces back to World War II, when the Navy transformed the land into a major repair and maintenance hub. That in turn brought thousands of Black workers from the south to the San Francisco neighborhood, doubling its population to roughly 20,000 people.

Shortly after the war, the Navy established the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory at the site. The facility conducted biological experiments and radiochemical analyses, most infamously participating in nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean from 1950 to 1969 and decontaminating the ships at the shipyard, which caused contaminants to soak into the soil.

The testing polluted the neighborhood’s soil with a litany of toxic contaminants that continue to be found today, decades after the lab closed following the Vietnam War. Navy officials as recently as last year found a radioactive chip smaller than a dime during routine soil testing at the site.

In 1989, the Environmental Protection Agency, after a Navy-commissioned assessment of the area, designated the shipyard as a federal Superfund site, which authorizes either the agency to clean up the site or force the parties responsible to do so. It’s the only Superfund site in San Francisco and one of the largest in the country.

But community advocates have claimed for years that cleanup efforts at the naval base have been botched and grossly mismanaged , endangering the health of tens of thousands of residents.

Community organizations have filed a series of lawsuits against the EPA and the Navy, most recently in June, when Greenaction and the UC Berkeley Law Clinic filed litigation accusing both parties of “egregious violations during its clean up efforts.

Angel characterized previous cleanup efforts “pitiful, inadequate, and a threat to public health, and literally and figuratively a cover up.”

The former company the Navy contracted with to lead the cleanup was accused of widespread fraud in 2017. The EPA did not announce a contractor for the latest clean up plan.

Earlier this year, the Navy confirmed what many advocates already surmised — that rising sea levels due to climate change could push contaminated groundwater closer to the surface.

The City plans to build as many as 10,000 new housing units at the site as part of a pair of waterfront neighborhoods that include housing, retail and parks. The project was delayed last month amid ongoing cleanup efforts.