San Francisco County Grand Jury • 2001-2002

Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Glossary Atsdr - Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (federal)

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Findings and Recommendations 4 findings

F1
RAB, CAC, and PAC do not work together and do not have a direct process for communication. This lack of a coordinated communications mechanism weakens the information flow to the community, and often leads to disorganized and ineffective public outreach efforts. This situation contributes to community mistrust and a lack of understanding of issues, including knowledge about progress and positive efforts toward reuse.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
The City should immediately establish a permanent economic development and public information office, and should locate this office at the gates to the shipyard. (CGJ notes that Building 19 is of a size and location suitable for this purpose.) This office should act as a clearinghouse to facilitate information and communication between employers and job seekers, and to provide referrals to sources for technical training, as well as for business education and financing. This center could serve as the hub for obtaining progress reports, media releases, information, and notices of site tours, as well as providing space for community outreach. Required Responses -  Board of Supervisors - 90 days  Mayor's Office of Economic Development - 60 days  San Francisco Redevelopment Agency - 60 days
F2
The development of HPS - bordered by one of the most economically depressed areas of San Francisco - could bring jobs and economic benefit to the community. There need to be strong assurances that BVHP residents are not locked out of the jobs, contracts, and ownership that are part of the development of homes and businesses. Some efforts have been made to encourage local training and hiring by on-site contractors; however, these efforts should be strengthened. Jobs in the planned industrial development at HPS would provide the means for some BVHP residents to afford homes in the planned residential developments
Related Recommendations (2)
R2a
Policies and Objectives 18 and 19 - as proposed in the HPS Area Plan of the General Plan of the City and County of San Francisco, Draft, April 8, 1997 - i.e., "Provide employment, business and entrepreneurial opportunities for Bayview Hunters Point residents and businesses" and "Provide education and job training opportunities for Bayview Hunter Point residents," must be implemented. The City should ensure job availability for BVHP residents - at both industrial and residential developments at HPS - and commit to accessibility of business and affordable residential opportunities. The parcel-by-parcel conveyance and development should proceed only with an understanding of the interrelationships of the development and reuse of the parcels. Economic development should be timed so that BVHP workers are able to afford some of the new housing in their community. Required Responses -  Mayor's Office of Economic Development - 60 days  San Francisco Redevelopment Agency - 60 days
R2b
The MOA between the Navy and the City should be amended to include training and hiring for the community to ensure employment in clean-up and development activities. Required Responses -  Mayor's Office of Economic Development - 60 days
F3
Concerning the nature and extent of health hazards at HPS, there appears to be no agreement among DPH, the Federal and State agencies, community organizations, and the media. Direct communication among all governmental agencies needs strengthening. Lack of complete data and incomplete documentation of the extent of toxics (known as "site characterization") exacerbates the level of community mistrust. The Navy has recently (March 2002) released a draft of an assessment report on the historical programs of the former Naval Radiological Laboratory at HPS, which is suspected of careless handling of radioactive materials. Full public vetting of this report has not occurred.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
DPH should review what testing and monitoring of the HPS site has been completed or is underway, and should identify what additional evaluations must be made. Using federal and state expertise and information, the City should work with the Navy and environmental regulators to review available test data in determining whether collection, ventilation, and/or treatment systems are warranted at the site. Further, the City should clarify issues, such as -  what effect the cap on the landfill has had on pathways for methane gas and/or other contaminants or compounds  whether public health and/or the environment might be adversely impacted by the landfill cap. DEnv, MOED and SFRA should work with the Navy and environmental regulators to complete a comprehensive site characterization. A clear schedule for this effort should be provided to the public. A full discussion of the Navy's Historical Radiological Assessment (Volume II Draft, March 2002) is needed. The community should be provided with information and practical advice in layman's language. There should be continuing efforts to strengthen community understanding of the goals, principles, and limitations of risk assessment. Expert testimony must be so presented that it empowers residents to become informed decision makers; media inaccuracies must be promptly rebutted. The National Institutes of Health's "Consensus Development Program" is suggested as a model to guide these efforts. Required Responses -  Department of the Environment - 60 days  Department of Public Health - 60 days  Mayor's Office of Economic Development - 60 days  San Francisco Redevelopment Agency - 60 days
F4
The complexities of the clean up, transfer, and reuse of the closed HPS offer a wide range of opportunities to the City of San Francisco and its citizens. The residents of the City, including the environmentally and economically impacted BVHP, have the right to maximum health and environmental protection as a result of the return of HPS to civilian use. HPS, in a prime urban location along the San Francisco Bay, must never again experience the environmental degradation of past uses
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
DEnv, MOED, and SFRA should require that new businesses in HPS comply with all environmental regulations, and the City should strictly enforce compliance (including imposing monetary penalties). The City and the community must be assured that the legacy of toxic contamination at HPS is not repeated. All proposed reuses, both residential and industrial, must be required by the City to commit to environmental compliance and pollution prevention; this commitment must be required of all developers and their contractors. A public process for evaluating industrial facilities wishing to locate at HPS should be established in order to provide answers to questions related to a company's environmental record and potential economic and environmental impact on BVHP. Required Response -  Department of the Environment - 60 days  Mayor's Office of Economic Development - 60 days  San Francisco Redevelopment Agency - 60 day Summary of Required Responses -  Mayor's Office of Economic Development - Recommendations 1, 2a, 2b, 3, and 4  Board of Supervisors - Recommendation 1  Department of the Environment - Recommendations 3 and 4  Department of Public Health - Recommendation 3  Redevelopment Agency - Recommendations 1, 2a, 3, and 4 ATTACHMENT 1 -