The US Navy faces growing scrutiny over its handling of radioactive contamination at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco. Now cover-up accusations have surfaced. This comes on the heels of the Navy’s admission that it concealed knowledge of hazardous plutonium levels discovered at another location once used to decontaminate ships in vogue to nuclear weapons testing during the 1950s.
During that post-war boom, the Navy acted at Hunters Point. They fought to make sense of and clean 79 ships that were intentionally irradiated during nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean. The coordinated operation used nontraditional tactics. After painting, crews either broomed the ships clean or sandblasted them, recycling that gritty material all over the yard again. The larger implications of these practices were not appreciated at the time, resulting in enduring and widespread contamination.
Recent environmental investigations found that roughly 2,000 grams of plutonium-239, a highly radioactive isotope, remain at Hunters Point. Alarmingly, all of these levels are above federal action thresholds. On November 13, 2024, the Navy took air samples for plutonium. In one case, they found a sample where the concentration was more than two times the safe limit.
It is believed that the contamination spread through multiple methods, including the use of goats deployed into nuclear blast zones. Radiological material may have been spread through contaminated animal waste or in the course of burning these animals. Local residents and environmental advocates have long warned of the toxic health effects on neighborhood residents posed by this contamination.
Michael Pound, the Navy’s environmental coordinator overseeing the cleanup, acknowledged that the Navy fumbled on communication. He knew they had not properly mitigated the dangers associated with airborne plutonium… .
“I’ve spent a fair amount of time up here getting to know the community, getting to know your concerns, transparency and trust, and on this issue we did not do a good job,” – Michael Pound
The Navy’s actions have led to criticism from local residents and environmental activists alike. Jeff Ruch, a long-time and vocal advocate for transparency and accountability in environmental enforcement, could barely contain his anguish. Specifically, he lambasted the Navy’s response to the incident.
“It’s been one thing after another after another,” – Jeff Ruch
Ruch sounded alarm bells about the unmeasured burden of contamination that may be hiding in plain sight.
“There are several thousand tons of radioactive grit that have never been accounted for that were buried,” – Jeff Ruch
To address these problems, city and federal officials initially suggested covering toxic sites with four feet of clean soil. Most scientists and policymakers consider this to be an unacceptable fix. They caution that it presents continuing threats to public health as it does not address the root pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that they will give the plutonium-239 results top priority for review. They use the rulemaking process to evaluate risks to the public.
“[The] EPA will prioritize the review of the Pu-239 results to make a final determination on what risk there is to the public.” – EPA spokesperson
The Navy’s failure to alert city officials about potentially hazardous levels of airborne plutonium for nearly a year has raised questions about its commitment to environmental safety and transparency. Critics such as local resident Steve Castleman have raised skepticism about the Navy’s capacity to self-report these findings.
“Can you trust them to report this honestly?” – Steve Castleman
The developers have already twice been gifted land at Hunters Point. This is all happening as part of a master plan to redevelop the station’s surrounding area into a lively new residential neighborhood, home to perhaps 10,000 new housing units and paired with new waterfront commercial districts. Residents around the proposed development have raised concerns over cancer clusters and other adverse health issues. They’re blaming these problems on unremediated contamination at the former U.S.
Among these challenges, several stakeholders feel that the Navy is trying to sidestep cleaning sites by spending billions on inadequate cleanup alternatives. Community members have increased their activism. They are demanding—like those in Chicago and Boston—accountability and a robust, community-driven remediation process before any redevelopment takes place.
The legacy of radiation exposure at Hunters Point runs much deeper than surface contamination. It contains a secretive research laboratory that injected animals with strontium-90 in terrible, cruel experiments. In other recent news, the Navy and a contractor were recently accused of defrauding the public by falsifying test results for the strontium-90.
As these members of the community see more of these disturbing disclosures, their demands for transparency and accountability only intensify. Residents of Hunters Point ultimately want to be safe. They are demanding stronger assurances that it will be prioritized in any future interstate-focused decision.