[This message was posted to the listserve by Arc Ecology <arc@igc.org>]
Dear CPEO,
Please post the following to the list serve. Thanks.
December 16, 1999
NAVY'S CHRISTMAS GIFT TO SAN FRANCISCO: POISON TO BE LEFT IN SHIPYARD.
NAVY MISMANAGES CLEANUP OF PARCEL B, NOW ATTEMPTS TO ABANDON TOXINS
GROUPS SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: SF ENVIRONMENTAL AND COMMUNITY GROUPS, AND
BAYVIEW RESIDENTS NOTICE NAVY OF INTENT TO SUE OVER HUNTERS POINT
CLEANUP
The Navy is attempting to renege on its agreement with the Environmental
Protection Agency establishing levels and objectives for the cleanup of
the 80-acre Parcel B on the Hunters Point Shipyard. The plan, which has
widespread community support, requires the Navy to clean the Parcel for
unrestricted reuse, which would allow vegetable gardens and residences.
Instead of finishing the required cleanup, the Navy halted all work on
the remaining toxic hot spots on Parcel B and now says the plan is
unworkable.
"The Navy has failed and refused to fully perform the remediation of
Parcel B as agreed in the ROD (Record of Decision or cleanup contract),
and ESB (Explanation of Significant Difference), and is therefore in
violation of the CERCLA (Superfund) and the Federal Facilities
Agreement. First, although the Navy agreed to excavate contaminated soil
from approximately 103 "soil excavation areas," located throughout
Parcel B, the Navy has conducted excavation at only 83 such areas.
Contamination thus remains unabated, at approximately 20 other areas and
presents a risk to human health. Second, even in the 83 soil excavation
areas where the Navy has conducted some amount of excavation, the Navy
has failed to remove all soil containing hazardous substances at
concentrations exceeding the cleanup goals, as it had agreed to do in
the ROD and ESD. The Navy's own reports demonstrate that contamination
in excess of the cleanup goals remains in numerous soil excavation areas
with Parcel B, including without limitation at least 45 soil excavation
areas where the Navy has conducted some excavation." Notice of Intent
to Sue, December 16, 1999
In response, a coalition of City-wide and Hunters Point Bayview
Environmental and Community groups and individuals citizens has put the
Navy on notice that they will take it to court over its bad faith
management of the cleanup of the City's only federal Superfund site.
"The subject of the suit will be the Navy's actions, or inactions, at
Hunters Point Shipyard. Plaintiffs will allege the Navy has violated and
continues to violate, the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act, the Federal Facility Agreement for
Hunters Point and the Solid Waste Disposal Act." Said the sixty day
notice delivered today to the Navy.
"The situation is intolerable," said Saul Bloom, Executive Director of
Arc Ecology, the group that organized the coalition filling the notice.
"We have waited more than three years for the Navy to get on with the
cleanup of this Parcel. Now, because of its incompetent investigation,
the Navy is finding more pollution than it expected. Instead of rolling
up its sleeves and getting on with its commitment, the Navy's strategy
is to weasel out of its agreement unilaterally and force San Francisco
to accept the property in a seriously contaminated condition." Arc
Ecology has lead environmental efforts to get the Shipyard cleaned up
since 1986.
"The contents of the agreement between the Navy and the EPA were based
on the Navy's own data and the cleanup agreement has broad community
support," said Olin Webb, a long term Bayview resident and director of
Hunters Point Bayview Community Advocates. "The Navy's failure to get on
with the cleanup is helping to keep this community in poverty by
preventing the economic development of the base."
"As a Shipyard neighbor, and the current Community Co-Chair of its
Restoration Advisory Board, with four years of experience as a volunteer
on the RAB, I have been an eye witness to the Navy's disregard for
community concerns," said Jill Fox. "The Navy has allowed schedules to
slip without regard to its agreement with the EPA, or the community's
strong desire for the rapid reuse of the base. The Navy has ignored our
requests for a paid community liaison, an on-site information office
although the base has hundreds of empty offices - and has not enforced
the local hiring provisions in their cleanup contracts. Most
importantly, the Navy has ignored the cleanup methods and levels in the
Record of Decision that they themselves had negotiated with the EPA. I
welcome the opportunity to participate in this action."
You can find archived listserve messages on the CPEO website at
http://www.cpeo.org/lists/index.html.
If this email has been forwarded to you and you'd like to subscribe, please send a message to:
cpeo-military-subscribe@igc.topica.com
_____________________________________________________________
Get your favorite topic delivered daily.
http://www.topica.com/t/11
|