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Residents urge action after controller audit of Department of the Environment
Summary
Public commenters at the Government Audit and Oversight Committee hearing urged stronger environmental testing and enforcement in Bayview-Hunters Point after the controller's audit; controller staff said implementation tables have been updated and they're impressed with departmental progress.
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee opened its meeting with Item 1, a hearing on the controller's performance audit of the Department of the Environment. Chair Sean Ellsburn said the committee received a response letter from Department Director Jared Blumenfeld updating the status of the audit recommendations.
Controller staff member Peg Stevenson told the committee the department submitted a revised implementation table and that her office's staff had met with department officials "a couple of times" and were "impressed with the progress" and the seriousness with which the department is treating the recommendations. The committee left the item open for public comment but later continued the item to the call of the chair.
During public comment several Bayview-Hunters Point residents raised long-standing pollution concerns. Espinola Jackson said the neighborhood continues to suffer from "environmental racism," urged the city and the governor to declare the area a health-hazard zone and said the city health department has refused requests to test residents. Another speaker, Francisco De Costa of Environmental Justice Advocacy, said Pier 98 (Heron's Head Park) remains a toxic site and urged application of the city's precautionary-principle ordinance to limit uses that expose residents, especially children, to contaminated soils.
Committee members did not take formal action on the item at the hearing; public comment was closed and the committee continued Item 1 to the call of the chair for future follow-up. The controller's audit and the department's implementation table remain the formal record of the committee's review.
