Federal environmental officials unveiled Thursday what they hailed as a landmark deal with the Navy to clean up the shoreline around the old site of its Hunters Point Naval Shipyard—a key hurdle to make way for a large residential and mixed-use development.
Under a deal signed by both the Navy and the EPA, the Navy will either trap or remove toxic PCBs and heavy metals in underwater sediments across more than 400 acres of shoreline bordering the long shuttered facility. The idea of covering the sediment, officials say, is to keep contaminates out of the Bay food chain.
The plan deals with how the Navy will dredge shallow areas, while laying down carbon material to trap waste in deeper areas on the south side of the site, near the location of an old oil reclamation yard.
The plan uses sand and rocks to cover contamination deposits around a ship and submarine maintenance area in another part of the site.
Regional EPA head Martha Guzman hailed the cleanup agreement as a milestone in the long and tortured history of the shipyard.
“This work is not just a key part of the site cleanup for Hunters Point,’’ she said, “but also a critical portion of our commitment to restore the health of the San Francisco Bay itself.”
But Hunters Point environmental activist Arieann Harrison remains skeptical about the details of the agreement.
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“Nobody has gotten the opportunity to review it -- So it is fake, it's phony, phony -- don't believe the hype,” she said.
While officials outlined the broad provisions of the agreement during their announcement, the detailed “record of decision” document had not been released as of late Thursday.
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Harrison stressed the plan outlined Thursday did not include radioactive material in any cleanup. The Navy countered that such materials have yet to be found in sufficient levels to trigger remediation under its plan guidelines.
The shoreline work is set to start in 2027. The cleanup price tag was not disclosed. Officials stressed final details are still being worked out.
