Bayview Power Plant in San Francisco
Residents of the Bayview district of San Francisco recently began
a legal battle to prevent the location of a 240-megawatt electric and
steam co-generation plant in the area. The plant is expected to release
up to 350 tons of airborne toxics into an area which already has an
incredible amount of hazards and toxins. Bayview is a predominantly
African-American community that is the poorest area of the San Francisco
metropolitan area. Bayview also has a history of environmental problems.
During World War II, the Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard was located in the
district. It was closed in 1974 due to severe chemical and radioactive
contamination, but low-income African-American residents continue to live
in the housing projects nearby. Bayview is also home to two PG&E power
plants, a sewage treatment plant, and a hazardous materials waste disposal
plant. All told, the district has reported 58 leaking storage facilities
and 73 hazardous waste sites in the area. And now the San Francisco
Energy Commission wants to build another waste-emitting power plant in the
district. The Bayview case is another example of the lack of parity in
the location of hazardous waste sites. According to studies, three out of
five black and Hispanic Americans live in communities with uncontrolled
toxic waste sites. The federal government also reacts more slowly to
protests about hazardous waste sites in minority communities, so it may be
a long time before this group fighting back against their environmental
inequality sees any results.
Source: James Whooley "Bayview fights the power"
[MAIN PAGE][Bayview Power
Plant][Kingsley Park][Methyl
Parathion in Detroit][Apartheid in South
Africa][Sable v. GMC][Burt
v. Fumigation Service and Supply][US vs.
Cello-Foil][Farm Bureau Insurance v.
Porter&Heckman][Hazardous Waste Deep Injection
Well][Incinerator in Moss Point]