Some people think that solving the housing crisis and protecting the environment are at odds with one another. But that doesn’t have to be the case.
A development proposal for Oakland’s Brooklyn Basin had originally included a large private marina expansion that would have blocked public access to the waterfront and harmed vital marshland habitat. This was the very marsh that a Baykeeper lawsuit protected more than 20 years ago. We were disturbed that this special place, already home to many native plants and animals, was going to be affected by construction and boat traffic.
While we celebrated Earth Day around the Bay Area this past weekend, there was a sad backdrop to the festivities: State authorities shut down the Chinook salmon fishing season this year because there aren’t enough salmon in the ocean to support California’s legendary fishery.
Across the region, industrial facilities illegally pollute the Bay with stormwater runoff containing high concentrations of toxic contaminants like lead, chromium, copper, and oil.
Last month’s train derailment that sent train cars carrying a million pounds of hazardous chemicals flying off the track was a horrific environmental disaster. Cancer-causing vinyl chloride spilled into the soil and two local creeks killing thousands of fish. Regulators evacuated thousands of people and then unleashed a toxic black cloud over the town to avoid an explosion.
A few years ago, Baykeeper skipper Jeff Wasserman and his wife Julie were kayaking along the Alameda shoreline on a lazy Saturday afternoon when they noticed something glittering in the embankment. Intrigued, Jeff and Julie navigated closer and were surprised to find that the shore was studded with thousands of ribbons of metal (pictured, below). They immediately reached out to our pollution hotline.
A site proposed for housing, outlined in red, inundated by Bay tides
During the Bay’s recent King Tides (the highest tides of the year), our field team used Osprey the drone to monitor the shoreline. We were surprised to find the site of a proposed new housing development in Pittsburg under water. It was also under water when we checked it out again during low tide. What’s worse, the area is known to contain toxic legacy contamination from a former PG&E power plant.
Across the region, industrial facilities illegally pollute the Bay with stormwater runoff containing high concentrations of toxic contaminants like lead, chromium, copper, and oil.
