San Francisco Bay is a major oil transportation corridor. As refineries ramp up production of heavy crude, the risk of a disastrous sinking oil spill is increasing.
In a victory to offset that risk, Governor Newsom has signed into law Baykeeper's landmark heavy crude oil spill legislation, AB 936.
Baykeeper Executive Director Sejal Choksi-Chugh recently won Bay Nature Magazine's 2020 Local Hero Award for conservation action.
The Local Hero awards are given annually. They honor remarkable local leaders who have made significant contributions to the conservation and understanding of, and connection to, the natural heritage of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Trump administration has reached a new low in its assault on clean water. Trump's Environmental Protection Agency is claiming that Bay water isn’t water. The agency recently decided that the South Bay salt ponds are land and don't need Clean Water Act protection.
This bizarre decision is dangerous for San Francisco Bay.
Baykeeper is deeply disappointed that Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed SB1, which would have defended California’s waters and wildlife from the Trump administration’s radical anti-environmental agenda.
The state legislation was introduced by California legislators this year as a vital backstop to the Trump administration’s extensive dismantling of federal environmental protections.
Can heavy industry coexist with a healthy San Francisco Bay? Yes, but only if companies use exceptional pollution controls.
When Baykeeper first investigated U.S. Pipe and Foundry, a steel pipe manufacturer in Union City, we found that polluted water was running off its 70-acre facility with few pollution controls. During heavy rains, runoff from the site often contained high levels of aluminum, lead, other heavy metals, oil, and grease.
By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the world's waters… unless we act now to change how people use and dispose of plastic products.
San Francisco Bay is already suffering from an onslaught of plastic pollution. Baykeeper has documented large volumes of plastic trash, as well as micro- and nanoplastics, throughout the Bay and its tributaries.
While patrolling the Bay on the Baykeeper boat over the last few years, we've noticed that a construction facility in Richmond has been slowly growing its operation and creeping into the Bay. More and more barges are starting to crowd the dock, and heavy industrial equipment keeps piling up along the shoreline. But the facility has not officially identified itself as an industrial operator.
"We're concerned that the company is trying to avoid complying with pollution laws by simply claiming that they're non-industrial," said Baykeeper Staff Attorney Ben Eichenberg.
In a surprising move, the oil industry recently muscled its way into the battle over toxic coal exports around San Francisco Bay.
Richmond city leaders have been considering an ordinance that would prohibit companies from storing coal along train tracks in neighborhoods and commercial areas.
Baykeeper requires polluters to stop contaminating San Francisco Bay… but what happens when they don’t?
We make them keep trying.
The companies install additional pollution controls, and they keep taking water samples to monitor the controls' effectiveness, until the illegal contamination is reduced to levels that aren’t harming the Bay.
That's what’s happening with SOS Steel Company, Inc., a steel fabricator in Santa Clara. The company has been polluting the Guadalupe River, which flows to the Bay, with toxic metals and chemicals.
If you’re a swimmer, kayaker, stand-up paddle boarder, boater—or someone who simply loves San Francisco Bay—you’re invited to be part of the 6th annual Bay Parade.
surprising move, the oil industry recently muscled its way into the battle over toxic coal exports around San Francisco Bay.
