"By decontaminating ships after atomic bomb tests and other activities, the Navy contaminated shipyard soil and groundwater - as well as surface water and sediment in the San Francisco Bay - with radioactive chemicals, heavy metals and petroleum fuels. The base was declared one of the nation's most contaminated sites in 1989. The Navy did not respond to KQED's request for comment."
"U.S. Environmental Protection Agency press officials, meanwhile, wrote in an email that the "one-time detection of plutonium" was analyzed twice by the Navy but was only found in one of the tests. The Navy provided a summary to the EPA on Oct. 23 of this year. Officials wrote that the agency has requested all data used by the Navy so "our agency can verify the finding ourselves" and "determine what risk there is to the public.""
"Thursday's announcement is just the latest in a decades-long effort to clean up the contaminated site. In 2023, the Navy unearthed two radioactive objects there. Early last year, the Navy, for the first time, acknowledged what Bay Area climate scientists and residents had asked the agency to investigate for years: In just over a decade, potentially toxic groundwater could surface there, partly due to human-caused climate change."
Navy decontamination of ships after atomic bomb tests and other activities contaminated Hunters Point Shipyard soil and groundwater, along with San Francisco Bay surface water and sediment, with radioactive chemicals, heavy metals and petroleum fuels. The base was declared one of the nation's most contaminated sites in 1989. The EPA reported a one-time plutonium detection that the Navy analyzed twice but found only once. The Navy provided a summary to the EPA and the agency has requested all data to verify the finding and assess public risk. Recent discoveries include two radioactive objects in 2023. Rising groundwater due to sea-level rise could surface contaminants, complicating plans for over 10,000 housing units in the Candlestick Point-Hunters Point redevelopment.
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