An environmental group, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, is taking legal action against the U.S. Navy and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over concerns that the cleanup of radioactive materials at San Francisco's Bayview Hunters Point Shipyard has been mishandled. In the lawsuit, detailed by the San Francisco Chronicle, the group seeks a court order to compel the Navy to retest the entire 500-acre site and for the EPA to enforce stricter oversight. Greenaction alleges that the agencies have failed to adhere to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act requirements, known as CERCLA, and accuses them of missing crucial deadlines.
The Navy operated the shipyard during the Cold War, and the EPA faced accusations of inadequate management. According to KQED, radioactive materials have been found on multiple occasions at the site, with the most recent discovery being a radioactive chip of glass last December. These findings have incited fears among the community and advocates that not enough has been done to address the contamination before allowing the redevelopment of thousands of homes.
The contentious issue at the heart of this lawsuit is whether the Navy will fulfill a 2018 promise to retest areas where prior decontamination efforts by contractor Tetra Tech EC, which has been embroiled in a fraud scandal, may have been falsified. While retesting has been conducted on one-third of the areas, Greenaction calls for a comprehensive 100% verification, prompted by the discovery of contamination during the partial retesting.
Adding to the complex challenge are concerns about climate change and rising sea levels, as detailed in the lawsuit. Advocates warn, compelled by the Navy's acknowledgment in the site's latest five-year review, that toxic groundwater could surface within a decade, potentially disrupting the community and the environment. This has spurred Greenreaction to push for updated remedial goals and assessments that consider current projections of sea-level and groundwater rise, according to KQED.
The broader implications involve the shipyard's planned redevelopment into a new waterfront neighborhood with 12,000 homes—a transformation that's part of San Francisco's most significant redevelopment project in a century. The adjacent Candlestick Point area is also slated for development, with updated plans by Five Point Holdings waiting for the city's approval. As the agencies named in the lawsuit have 60 days to respond, residents and environmentalists await the court's decision, as cited by the San Francisco Chronicle.
