(Nov 12, 2021) Settlement establishes end date for scourge of coal and petcoke dust, and will include interim health protections for Richmond residents for the next five years
Richmond, CA—Today, the Richmond City Council reached a monumental settlement with the Levin-Richmond Terminal Corporation to phase out the storage of coal and petcoke in the city by the end of 2026. The settlement closes...
(Oct 6, 2021) Baykeeper Notifies Benicia Petcoke Polluter of Intent to Sue
Oakland, CA—San Francisco Baykeeper yesterday served a notice of intent to sue Amports, the owner of the Port of Benicia, alleging repeated violations of the Clean Water Act. Baykeeper, responding to tips to its pollution hotline, observed several instances of petroleum coke dust being discharged directly into the...
(Sep 22, 2021) Coalition Blasts EPA Delays on Replacing Do-Nothing Trump Rule
WASHINGTON— One hundred environmental, community and public-health groups called on the Biden administration today to set strong standards to cut airplane pollution and avoid industry-promoted biofuel greenwashing.
As today’s letter notes, the Biden administration has yet to announce any efforts to replace useless ...
(Aug 31, 2021) Oakland, CA—A federal judge Monday threw out a major Trump administration rule that scaled back federal protections for streams, marshes, and wetlands across the United States. Trump's rule would have allowed pollution and the draining and filling of streams, marshes, and wetlands.
Over forty percent of the Bay Area’s stream miles, and over sixty percent of the creeks across...
(May 24, 2021) Oakland—San Francisco Baykeeper joined a coalition of environmental and social jsutice organizations to oppose Dennis Herrera as next San Francisco Public Utilities Commission general manager, and delivered a statement today outling their opposition to San Francisco Mayor London Breed and SFPUC president Sophie Maxwell.
The groups' opposition springs from a May 14 SFPUC lawsuit...
(May 18, 2021) Oakland—San Francisco Baykeeper today submitted comments to the City of Alameda on its draft general plan update. Baykeeper applauds Alameda as one of few Bay Area jurisdictions to address climate-driven sea level rise in its general plan, and recommends that the city includes in its plan more incentirves to encourage Bay-friendly landscaping, as well as more recent projections for...
(Apr 27, 2021) Oakland—Following two years of exceptionally dry conditions, the East Bay Utility District's board of directors voted Tuesday evening (April 27) to declare a stage one drought, and asked rate payers to reduce their water use by 10 percent.
In reaction, San Francisco Baykeeper executive director Sejal Choksi-Chugh issued the following statement:
"Bay Area residents have...
(Apr 13, 2021) Today, Redwood City Salt Plant, LLC, an affiliate of Cargill Incorporated, the largest privately held company in the United States, abandoned its latest attempt to facilitate selling off its South Bay salt ponds for development. By dropping its appeal of the 2020 Federal District Court's ruling, the legal decision stands that the Redwood City salt ponds are protected under the...
(Feb 26, 2021) The EPA today abandoned a Trump-era attempt to remove federal Clean Water Act protections from the South Bay salt ponds, which would have facilitated property owner Cargill selling off the wetlands to be paved over and developed.
Trump's EPA had determined that the ponds were land and not protected under the Clean Water Act. Baykeeper sued the EPA, and in October, U.S. District...
(Feb 9, 2021) Oakland, CA—Oil infrastructure at Chevron's Richmond refinery failed today, causing oil to spill into the Bay. Chevron's initial measures to control the spill were inadequate, and oil quickly breached Chevron's containment boom. The Contra Costa Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office Community Warning System issued a public health advisory. The size of the spill is yet unknown.
In...