San Francisco supervisors press Navy, EPA after delayed disclosure of Hunters Point plutonium detection

Summary

At a Dec. 15 Rules Committee hearing, city health officials, the Navy and EPA debated why an airborne plutonium action‑level exceedance first sampled in Nov. 2024 was not disclosed to local agencies and the public until late 2025; officials said the measured level posed no immediate health risk but community members demanded independent review and stronger notification rules.

Supervisor Shamone Walton opened a Dec. 15 Rules Committee hearing calling for answers after the Navy told San Francisco that an air sample collected at Parcel C of the Hunters Point Shipyard in November 2024 detected plutonium above an internal action level but was not reported to local authorities until 2025.

Dr. Susan Phillip, the San Francisco health officer, told the committee the Department of Public Health (DPH) learned of the laboratory results in early October 2025, sent formal requests for information and convened meetings with the Navy and EPA. DPH said it concluded, after reviewing the available data with regulators, that the exceedance did not require immediate public‑health action but stressed that regulatory determinations are made by state and federal agencies under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).