Bayview Hunters Point residents urge halt to Lennar work, demand testing and public hearing

Dozens of Bayview Hunters Point residents told the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on June 5, 2007, that dust from redevelopment activity at the Hunters Point shipyard is making people sick and must be stopped until independent testing and a public hearing occur.

Residents, community organizers and faith leaders packed the board chamber during public comment to describe recurring nosebleeds, new-onset asthma, hospitalizations and other illnesses they say began after excavation and demolition work began at the site. Several speakers asked the board to order air- and health-testing, to halt construction until monitors and controls are verified, and to hold a formal hearing with state and federal agencies.

Community members said the problem is widespread and urgent. Rachel Davis, who said she lives next to the construction site, described ongoing symptoms in her toddler: "I am horrified that one day my daughter will have cancer because of what my children are being exposed to in Hunters Point." Community organizer Alicia Schwartz, representing POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights), said the group had surveyed hundreds of neighborhood residents and found new asthma, nosebleeds and other symptoms: "We have an opportunity to make this right. We have an opportunity to pull together these different departments...and demonstrate that this is not acceptable." Reverend Ernest Jackson urged the board to calendar a hearing and to take the residents' concerns seriously: "We are in need of your help. We're in need of your support."

Speakers described specific failures they want addressed: claims that air monitors were inoperative for months, that crews did not consistently spray dust-suppression water, and that company representatives delayed or declined to collect material samples for laboratory testing. One speaker described finding a heavy accumulation of material on a window screen that had not been tested. Other commenters linked respiratory illness and nosebleeds among schoolchildren at nearby schools to the work.

Several witnesses reported attempts to notify or work with city and state agencies. Valerie Tullier, a district representative for state Sen. Carole Migden, said the senator's office is collecting documents and is in fact-finding mode; she said the senator had not taken a policy position but was monitoring constituent complaints. Organizers from local groups and parents repeatedly asked the board to order immediate testing of children and residents, halt the job until testing and independent review are complete, and require Lennar and any contractors to demonstrate compliance with dust-control measures.

Speakers also pressed supervisors to use the board's authority. One resident urged the board to call for a moratorium on the construction until tests and a full assessment could be completed. Several speakers appealed directly to District Supervisor Sophie Maxwell by name, asking for leadership and a formal hearing; others asked Mayor Gavin Newsom and city departments to intervene. Willie Ratcliffe, publisher of the San Francisco Bayview newspaper, and other longtime community leaders said the issue reflects a pattern of environmental harm to the neighborhood and asked the board to act promptly.

The board closed public comment after the speakers and, per the clerk's announcement, said the comments would be taken under advisement. The meeting then moved to the remaining agenda items; no formal board action specific to a moratorium, testing mandate or hearing appears in the meeting minutes for June 5, 2007.

Community members left the hearing demanding three concrete steps: an immediate construction moratorium until independent testing verifies safety; door-to-door outreach and medical testing for affected residents and schoolchildren; and a formal public hearing that includes city, state and federal environmental and public-health agencies. Several speakers said they would continue to press the issue until they received a formal response from the board.