San Francisco Unprepared to Handle New Risks at the Hunters Point Superfund Site

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Jun 01, 2022, 12:45 ET

Civil Grand Jury releases "Buried Problems and a Buried Process: The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in a Time of Climate Change"

SAN FRANCISCO, June 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2021-2022 San Francisco Civil Grand Jury today released a troubling report about the unaddressed risk of rising groundwater at Hunters Point, and what it means for the cleanup and development of the heavily polluted former Naval Shipyard.

The Shipyard is a Superfund site where the Navy, overseen by EPA and state regulators, has been cleaning up extensive radiological and chemical contamination for over thirty years. As each stage of the cleanup is approved, the Navy has agreed to transfer property to the City. A developer, working with the San Francisco Office of Community Infrastructure and Investment, plans to build thousands of homes at the Shipyard, along with office towers, parks, a school and millions of feet of commercial space.

"Hunters Point is part of the biggest development in San Francisco since the 1906 earthquake," said Michael Hofman, Jury Foreperson. "Yet neither the Navy nor the City is paying attention to what's going to happen there when sea level rise pushes the groundwater closer to the surface."

The Jury's research found that when sea level rises, shallow groundwater near the shore rises with it, and can damage infrastructure, cause flooding from below, and mobilize contaminants in the soil. In the low-lying Shipyard, where the Navy intends to leave hazardous toxins buried, experts told the Jury that rising groundwater poses special risks to health and safety, and to future development.

"There's so much at stake in the Hunters Point Shipyard," Hofman said. "But inside the City, only a tiny program in the Department of Public Health is engaged with the cleanup. The City isn't prepared to respond when things go wrong. And the City isn't devoting the right resources to anticipate problems like groundwater rise at the Shipyard, while there's still time to do something."

To find the full report, please visit https://civilgrandjury.sfgov.org/report.html

About the Jury: Every year, the Superior Court selects 19 San Franciscans to serve year-long terms on the Civil Grand Jury. The purpose of the Jury is to investigate the operations of the government of the City and County of San Francisco. Civil Grand Jury reports and information are available online.

CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
2021-22 CIVIL GRAND JURY
400 McAllister Street, Room 008, San Francisco, CA 94102 • civilgrandjury.sfgov.org

SOURCE San Francisco Civil Grand Jury