Getting Environmental in the 94110

General Area: San Francisco’s Mission District

1. Who and what are the top polluters in your zip code?

• SF Drydock Inc.; releasing 28,942 pounds
• Chevron; releasing 13,311 pounds
• PG&E; releasing 29lbs 

2. What percent of the homes in your zipcode have lead-based paint? 

• 7% of the homes have lead-based paint. Many of the homes in the Mission have not had improvements since they were built. Some of the homes only receive improvements when they sell or when tenants move, or when they building is lost after a fire. 

3. Are there Superfund sites in your zip? 

• What is a Superfund site? A Superfund site is an incredibly polluted area which requires long-term cleaning up of hazardous materials that have been pushed into the area. 
• In your area? The Treasure Island Naval station in Hunter’s Point

4.  What can you tell us about the Superfund sites that are near where you live?

• The Naval station, which has not been used in decades continues to be targeted for clean-up efforts in order to make the area available for improvements and expansion. The area started operating in 1940, and was named “redundant” in 1994. As the area has been cleaned, parcels have been sold for development but activists still claim that the area is contaminated considering the amount of time that the shipyard was operating. The goal post clean-up is to develop the area in order to build more housing. A large project for area improvement and development has allowed for individuals and families to begin moving in, with the first group inhabiting the area in 2015. Individuals and families have lived around the area even before it was being used as a shipyard. Historically, those living in the area of Hunter’s Point have been the poorest in the city of San Francisco, where a large percentage is underserved in regards to their health and wellness. 

5.  What did you learn about the air quality in your zip code?

• San Francisco does not meet attainment status because the county fails to meet the national ambient air quality standard for the following criteria air pollutants: Ozone. The air quality is not great. Only 88% of the of days in San Francisco are considered “good air quality” days, and 12% is considered “moderate.” Thankfully non of the days in San Francisco are considered  “unsafe” for sensitive populations. San Francisco started Spare the Air days back in 1991 as a City-wide Quality Improvement project. During summer months buses and other forms of public transportation were free in order to help residents and people commuting into the city refrain from driving in order to minimize ozone pollution (smog). Residents were also asked to refrain from doing other pollution causing activities (using aerosol spray, for example).

6.  How about the water quality?

• While I always believed that the water in San Francisco was good, it’s not. San Francisco County’s water ranking was actually placed among the worst in the country moving past national averages and settling in the “dirtiest/worst counties” area of the Clean Water Act ranking. This is primarily based on the fact that the county is surrounded by salt water, and because the water source is actually outside of the county and it has to travel through a pipe system that runs 175 miles. The leading pollutants in the water surface is pesticides (76%), Sediments (24%), and pathogens (12%)- this is probably based on the total travel distance of the water, and that the pipes that run to private residences have not been updated since they were placed decades ago. That being said, San Francisco has excellent drinking water, in my opinion. 

7.  How did your zipcode fair on a social justice / environmental justice basis?

• San Francisco does well, but it’s not great. Overall people from underserved communities; communities that have been historically marginalized and have experienced disenfranchisement experience the worst in regards to the negative effects from the environment. Hunter’s Point, which is primarily an African-American and Asian American community, is the location of the closed shipyard which for years has continued to ruin the waterfront in the area-not allowing residents to enjoy the Bay the same way that residents in other areas of the Bay do (or example, Marin). The incidence of health conditions like diabetes, asthma, and other respiratory issues is very high in this community. In San Francisco’s Mission District, which was historically a Latino dominant area, the residences have not experienced any improvements which means that many of the homes still have lead paint, and rusty pipes. Acknowledging this, San Francisco is making attempts to change its resident’s future. With projects like Spare the Air, and Friends of the Urban Forest, and other programs that are being developed by the Public Utilities Commission there is opportunity for San Francisco to change its ranking-which is not bad- and provide opportunity to be a model for other cities in California and the US. 

Link to Source: LINK