Enewsletter for May 2021

A massive die-off could drive our local salmon to extinction this year—but it’s preventable, if action is taken soon.

Salmon eggs, juveniles, and spawning adults require cold water to survive. That’s why Sacramento River salmon once migrated far into California’s mountains to find cold water, until construction of Shasta Dam blocked access to their historic spawning grounds.

Even in a dry year like this one, Shasta Reservoir can store cold water and release enough to allow the salmon to survive the hot summer. But if the federal government continues to deliver loads of water to big agribusiness customers, the reservoir will get drained quickly, leaving too little cold water behind to protect the salmon. Meanwhile, the agencies in charge are dragging their feet on taking action, which might make it too late to save the salmon.

Click here to sign an action letter urging Interior Secretary Haaland to ensure that Sacramento River salmon receive the cold water they need to survive.

Photo by Zureks, Wikimedia Commons

The Oakland A’s want to build a new stadium at Howard Terminal, but the location is a hotspot for hazardous and cancer-causing waste.

Baykeeper wants the A’s to stay in Oakland, but if they’re going to move to a new waterfront site, we want them to be good neighbors. They’ll need to clean up the area first to make it safer for West Oakland residents and the Bay. 

The Howard Terminal site is known to be historically contaminated from decades of past industrial activity. The toxic pollution is buried in the sediment where it will be disturbed by the new construction, flooded by rising waters in the Bay, and exposed to groundwater in the area.

But sadly, the A’s recent draft environmental impact report failed to demonstrate that it will adequately address the site’s pollution problems: “Simply put, the Project is proposed for a dangerous toxic site, imperiled by sea level rise, with an inadequate remediation plan,” we wrote in our comment letter submitted to the City of Oakland in late April.

It’s rally time, A's!

NBC Bay Area News recently reported on Baykeeper’s case to protect the Redwood City salt ponds.

The former Trump Administration’s EPA had tried to classify the ponds as land to make it easier for the owner, Cargill, to avoid Clean Water Act requirements and sell the area for development. We joined with local partners to challenge their claim and won, and now both the EPA and Cargill have dropped their appeals.

But the fight isn’t quite over, yet! We’re advocating for the ponds to be returned to their natural marshy state, so that they provide habitat for wildlife and a sea level rise buffer for local communities.

Photo by Robb Most & LightHawk Conservation Flying 

Double the amount of mud excavated from the Panama Canal will be needed to rebuild Bay Area shorelines if we want to buffer against flooding and sea level rise, according to a new study by our partners at the San Francisco Estuary Institute.

The good news is that lots of Bay sediment is already available to build up our shorelines. The bad news is that the federal government is throwing our mud away.

The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for dredging shipping channels to make way for the massive oil tankers and cargo vessels that travel throughout the Bay. For years, Baykeeper has advocated for the Corps to reuse the Bay mud it dredges instead of dumping it in the Pacific.

In 2017, we joined a lawsuit with the Bay Conservation and Development Commission that requires the Corps to beneficially re-use the dredged sediment. In mid-June, the 9th Circuit will hear oral arguments in our case that this dredged mud must be put back to good use in the Bay.

Stay tuned! 

Photo of dredging in Alameda by Richard Bangert  

Last year, long-distance swimmer and South End Rowing Club member Erika Gliebe swam a challenging 10-mile loop around Angel Island… and broke the women’s time record! One of the inspirations for her success? She dedicated her swim to Baykeeper by fundraising $4,700 in honor of our mission to protect the Bay from pollution.

And now, she’s getting ready to do it all over again! In two weeks, during the wee early morning hours of June 3, Erika will jump into the Bay’s frigid waters once again to swim around Angel Island—and may even break last year’s swim (and fundraising) record.

You can cheer Erika on and help her reach a goal of raising $6,000 for Baykeeper by visiting her Facebook page and making a gift to support a healthy Bay for swimmers and everyone who loves the water!

Photo courtesy of Erika Gliebe

The 5th annual Environmental Justice Summit, hosted by Hip Hop for Change, is tomorrow, Thursday May 20! The virtual event brings together leading environmental organizers of color from the Bay Area and beyond to share experiences, discuss steps to diversify the Green Movement, and amplify the specific needs of our most vulnerable communities. Plus, live music performances by local hip hop artists!

Baykeeper Executive Director Sejal Choksi-Chugh will moderate a panel scheduled to start at 4:00pm on one of the Bay Area's most egregious cases of environmental injustice—the toxic Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood disaster. 

Registration is free and we hope to see you there!

For Earth Month, we put out a call for volunteers to help fight trash pollution in the Bay—and you really stepped up! Collectively we logged more than 100 cleanups to protect San Francisco Bay in our Clean Bay Challenge. Seventy-five participants picked up trash from shorelines across the Bay Area, practiced good deeds for the Bay, and logged moments of Bay appreciation—while cheering each other on along the way.

Trash pollution has gotten worse during the pandemic due to a sharp increase in the use of single-use plastic items, from take-out containers to masks. Now more than ever, it’s essential for us to monitor these increases and fight the rising tide of trash pollution.

Thank you so much to all of our Clean Bay Challenge volunteers for their energy and dedication to the Bay. Thank you also to United Airlines, Levi Strauss & Co. and Obsidian Wine Co. for sponsoring the Clean Bay Challenge.