The U.S. Navy has begun to remove hazardous materials from several contaminated buildings slated for demolition at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, the department announced.
Abatement and removal of waste at six buildings in the Superfund site has started, with demolition scheduled to begin in late March. Superfund sites are federal designations for areas contaminated with hazardous materials that require long-term cleanup.
The site, which sits at the southeastern corner of the city in the Bayview-Hunters Point area, was once an active shipyard where the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory conducted research on the effects of radiation and atomic weapons. The site was also used to decommission radioactive ships, leading to the accumulation of radionuclides contaminating the surrounding soil and water.
The Navy is leading ongoing cleanup efforts with oversight from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency and the San Francisco Department of Public Health. The cleanup has been divided into multiple phases, focusing on different parcels at a time on the 934 acres of land.
Demolition will soon begin for six abandoned buildings in Parcel G, a square-shaped section of the site bordered by Spear Avenue, H Street, Morrell Street, and Manseau Street near the Hunters Point gantry crane.
The Base Realignment and Closure program, the process used by the Navy to reorganize or close its installations, will work on the demolition along with ECC, a Burlingame-based construction and hazardous waste removal company that was awarded a contract to conduct the demolition for buildings in Parcel G. ECC is required to hire local workers for at least 23% of the onsite work.
Environmental concerns bring lawsuit
But Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, an organization that has sued the Navy over its cleanup process for the site, is concerned that the demolition process could harm neighboring communities.
“Greenaction and the Hunters Point community are very concerned about anything the Navy is doing at the shipyard Superfund site,” said Greenaction executive director Bradley Angel in an interview. “From our long engagement with the Navy about this, we see their approach to be reckless and often not taking enough steps to protect the public and the environment from exposure to contaminants.”
While cleanup of the hazardous materials is necessary, Angel is weary of the Navy’s remediation process given the history of the site’s cleanup.
In 2012, the U.S. EPA accused Tetra Tech EC, a company previously contracted by the Navy to conduct cleanup, of falsifying radiological data of soil tests and misrepresenting soil samples. Several lawsuits against the company have so far resulted in a $97 million settlement and two engineers from the company being sentenced to prison.
Greenaction also sued the Navy in 2024, alleging inadequate cleanup of radioactive waste at the shipyard and that its cleanup methods did not sufficiently protect human health. The lawsuit is ongoing.
“We honestly don’t trust the Navy to do things right,” Angel said. “Yes, we want the site cleaned up, but they need to do a better job of engaging the community and allowing full community oversight.”
The Navy engages with the community at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Citizens Advisory Committee meetings, which are held a few times a year. Subcommittees within the Citizens Advisory Committee hold meetings every couple of months.
Navy taking safety precautions
Several safety measures will be in place to help protect nearby communities from ingesting unsafe levels of toxic chemicals emitted as a result of demolition, according to the Navy.
Air monitoring stations to measure dust and radionuclides in the air will be set up at different locations in the site. Dust control measures to maintain compliance with air quality regulations will be also implemented.
“We honestly don’t trust the Navy to do things right. Yes, we want the site cleaned up, but they need to do a better job of engaging the community and allowing full community oversight.”
Bradley Angel, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
The truck route for disposal of the contaminated materials will avoid residential areas.
“We will work closely with the contractor to remove these structures with minimal impact to surrounding communities and businesses,” said Michael Pound, the Navy’s Base Realignment and Closure environmental coordinator for the property, in a statement.
The demolition of the six buildings in Parcel G is expected to be completed in June 2027. The next task for cleanup will focus on Parcel B, according to the Navy.