Richmond’s Point Molate has been called "the crown jewel” of the East Bay shoreline. It sits under the shadow of one of the region’s biggest polluters, the Chevron oil refinery—and now, Point Molate is the target of a new development plan that would be disastrous both for the Bay and Richmond residents.
The pandemic has shut down the global demand for fossil fuels. That means Bay Area refineries can't process all the crude oil that’s already loaded on tankers and coming our way. It's estimated that the oil tankers currently along the West Coast are carrying enough crude oil to meet as much as 20 percent of the world's daily demand.
I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a little disappointed that the 50th Earth Day came and went, and it didn't get nearly the fanfare it deserved. Especially at a time when environmental rollbacks are being snuck under the cover of COVID-19, polluters are feeling emboldened to skirt the law, and the climate crisis is taking a backseat to the global pandemic.
As we approach a very unusual Earth Day, I’m reminded more than ever how lucky we are to live in the Bay Area with all of our wonderful outdoor spaces.
We can’t fully enjoy them right now, for the good of our community. But here at Baykeeper, we’re seeing that the threats to the Bay haven't paused, even as the Bay Area stays at home.
Oil tankers are still delivering dangerous crude oil shipments to refineries. The coal industry is brazenly pushing more toxic coal through the Bay Area. And the Trump Administration is rolling back environmental regulations on polluters.
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.
In a bizarre act of make believe, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) team in D.C. is claiming that pond water isn’t water. EPA recently decided that the Redwood City salt ponds are land and therefore don't deserve Clean Water Act protection. This is contrary to findings by the EPA's regional San Francisco office.
Updated: On March 17, 2020, Baykeeper further challenged the Regional Board's flawed plan before the oversight agency, urging the State Water Board to reject the plan as inadequate. Baykeeper's scientists maintain that the Petaluma River is currently so contaminated with bacteria that people will get sick swimming and paddling in the waters, and our lawyers contend that the plan fails to hold accountable all of the sewage polluters along the River.
I don’t know about you, but for me the days are blurring, and it's becoming normal to host Zoom calls that are interrupted by kids with questions about schoolwork. In addition to feeling immensely grateful for teachers, I’m feeling appreciative of healthcare workers, grocery store clerks, farmworkers, and neighbors who are doing their part to flatten the curve.
There’s a lot of uncertainty at the moment about how COVID-19 spreads. But what we do know is that raw sewage is rife with pathogens of all kinds—and spills of untreated sewage spike during a rainstorm.
For this reason, it’s especially important that swimmers avoid the Bay during this time. April rains will likely cause untreated sewage to enter the Bay.
Because if they lived on the Bay, they’d be bagels!
At Baykeeper, we're promoting a little bit of Bay humor to keep things light. These days, with the stress of sheltering at home, caring for loved ones, and taking extra caution on the rare occasions when we head outside—whether to take a hike or hunt for toilet paper—we can all use a little smile.
