Florence LaRiviere, leader of San Francisco Bay’s Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge, this week won the 2012 National Wetlands Award. She was also named the Wetland Community Leader of the year.
The award, one of the nation’s most prestigious environmental prizes, honors individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to the conservation and restoration of our nation’s wetlands.
Baykeeper recently urged regulators to strengthen controls on pollution in San Francisco Bay from the Shell Oil Refinery in Martinez. We recommended that the Regional Water Quality Control Board tighten the refinery’s permit to discharge water into the Bay.
The Shell refinery discharges about 5.8 million gallons of treated wastewater deep into the Carquinez Strait each day, about 500 feet from shore. The refinery also discharges storm water into Peyton Creek and Peyton Slough, two waterways that drain to Carquinez Strait.
Last week, Baykeeper and The Boatyard at Grand Marina reached a settlement agreement to reduce the Alameda boat repair facility’s storm water pollution of San Francisco Bay.
Baykeeper initiated legal action after observing significant amounts of boat paint residue on the pavement at Grand Marina, which is located on the Oakland Estuary. Boat paint residue generally contains high levels of copper, a heavy metal that is toxic to salmon.
Every year, 3 to 6 million cubic yards of sediments are dredged in and around San Francisco Bay to keep navigation channels open for large ships. Now, Bay dredging management rules face a possible update, and Baykeeper is advocating for Bay dredging to be done in an environmentally sound manner.
Dredging in the Bay is carried out under the guidelines of the Long Term Management Strategy for Dredging, a cooperative effort of the federal EPA and several state and regional agencies.
Central Marin’s wastewater treatment plant needs stricter limits on its releases of raw sewage into San Francisco Bay during storms, Baykeeper recently told regulators.
Baykeeper urged the Regional Water Quality Control Board to tighten up the Central Marin Sanitation Agency’s permit to discharge treated wastewater into San Francisco Bay. The board is currently considering the renewal of the permit.
Last week Baykeeper and Svendsen’s Boat Works reached an agreement to reduce storm water pollution of San Francisco Bay from this important Alameda boat repair and maintenance facility.
Baykeeper’s testing of storm runoff from Svendsen’s, which is located along the Oakland estuary shoreline, found elevated levels of copper and zinc. Both of these heavy metals are toxic to salmon and other fish, and are common contaminants from boatyard operations.
Plans for a redeveloped business district in East Palo Alto need to include more storm water pollution prevention measures and take into account future sea level rise, Baykeeper recently told regulators.
We urged the city of East Palo Alto to redraft the environmental impact report for this large-scale redevelopment, the Ravenswood/4 Corners project. The plans call for new housing, offices, light industrial buildings, public facilities and parks on approximately 115 acres.
Cities need to use direct capture measures to reduce the amount of trash in our waterways—not plastic bag bans and ineffective education programs, Baykeeper recently told regulators.
Baykeeper has analyzed new plans from the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association (BASMAA) for reducing the trash that washes into the Bay during the rainy season. We found that most have little chance of reducing trash in Bay Area waterways.
Pollution from large vessels needs to be tightly regulated and the results publicly accessible, Baykeeper recently told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA is updating the national Vessel General Permit, which regulates many sources of pollution from commercial ships over 79 feet in length.
The large ship pollution sources under consideration include hull coatings, underwater hull cleaning, various types of wastewater and releases of ballast water.
To keep whales safe in the Bay, boaters need to stay at least 300 feet away—about the length of a football field—warns the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.
A gray whale has been spotted in the Bay over the last couple of days, and one excited boater told a TV news reporter he got within 50 feet of the whale. But for the whale, getting that close spells danger.