Press Release: October 16, 2020
Oakland, CA — Baykeeper and the US Coast Guard reached an agreement today that requires the federal agency to make significant changes to reduce heavy metals and other pollutants from its Yerba Buena Island facility in San Francisco Bay. The agreement also requires the Coast Guard to put a civilian...
Blog Post: October 13, 2020
The Bay is literally surrounded by polluters of all shapes and sizes.
Approximately 1,600 industrial facilities line the Bay and its tributaries. In the absence of pollution controls, these companies dump contaminants into storm drains, creeks, streets, and San Francisco Bay. So every year, our...
BK In The News: July 20, 2020
State water regulators have issued a $285,000 penalty against the Phillips 66 refinery... "Industrial wastewater, especially from an oil refinery, can contain pollutants like toxic heavy metals and petroleum waste that are harmful to the Bay, wildlife, and people," said Sejal Choksi-Chugh,...
BK In The News: July 7, 2020
Las calles de Oakland están llenas de los desechos de las celebraciones del 4 de Julio. Aquí se le explica cómo limpiar de manera segura... “Los fuegos artificiales generalmente contienen metales como el plomo y el cobre y otros desechos como el plástico y el cartón,” dijo Sejal Choksi-Chugh,...
Blog Post: April 16, 2020
Selenium poisoning is shocking local scientists… again. Newly published studies found deformities in 80 percent of young Sacramento splittail minnow, a threatened fish found in the Sacramento River. The scientists attribute these spinal malformations to selenium pollution.
Selenium first gained...
BK In The News: May 3, 2019
For the third time in the last five years, Phillips 66 plans to pay to settle accusations that its Rodeo refinery released chlorine into San Pablo Bay... "These chlorine discharges are very serious for fish and other aquatic life in the area," said Erica Maharg, managing attorney at San Francisco...
BK In The News: December 13, 2018
Pharmaceuticals are pouring into the Bay, even if we never flush pills. Compounds in painkillers and other common oral drugs are still excreted from our bodies, routed through wastewater treatment plants that can’t remove them completely, then discharged to the Bay where they may harm marine life...
BK In The News: December 11, 2018
The Trump administration laid out plans Tuesday to roll back Obama-era rules protecting isolated streams and wetlands from industrial pollution... “This rolls back significantly regulations protecting wetlands, intermittent streams and headwaters, where streams start,” said Erica Maharg, the...
BK In The News: November 20, 2018
Word of rain returning to the Bay Area brings much-needed relief from the smoke that has lingered now for a couple of weeks... "The drinking water systems do filter out these types of pollutants and toxins," San Francisco Baykeeper Executive Director Sejal Choksi-Chugh said. The San Francisco...
Blog Post: October 17, 2018
People who eat fish caught in San Francisco Bay are exposed to toxic substances because polluters regularly contaminate the Bay with dangerous substances like mercury, dioxins, and PCBs.
The Bay Area is home to native tribes whose members follow traditional fishing practices and people who...