Environmental Health
Pursuing Public Health Threats by Putting Science First
 esidents of the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco—adjacent to Hunters Point Shipyard—suffer disproportionately from asthma and other respiratory diseases. A storefront on Third Street serves as a bulletin board, education center and technical resource for environmental health issues.
Known as The Community Window on Hunters Point Shipyard, the storefront is a project of Arc Ecology, a nonprofit public interest organization founded in 1983 to address the effects of military activities and policies on the environment, public health and the economy.
Arc Ecology received a three-year, $225,000 grant from TCWF in September 2005 to provide environmental health education and technical assistance to communities affected by environmental hazards on military bases.
 The Community Window gives passersby a quick update on the removal, treatment and containment of PCBs, pesticides, petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents and radioactive contaminants that were released into the environment when the 936-acre shipyard, 433 acres of which are under water, was an active U.S. naval base. Development of residential, industrial and other projects is planned after the cleanup of the shipyard—closed in 1991—is complete.
“Too often, environmental health organizations are accused by polluters of not having a scientific basis,” said Earl Lui, TCWF program director. “By doing really good science, Arc Ecology has become widely respected. The pioneering work they have done on the shipyard issue is a testament to their persistent efforts for more thorough cleanups, to benefit public health now and in the future.”
Inside the storefront, residents can browse an extensive library of public documents about the cleanup and attend environmental health workshops. Detailed, user-friendly information is also available on the organization’s website.
A planned series of community health assessment fairs will help residents evaluate the level of care they are receiving for existing conditions. In addition, Arc Ecology provides monthly environmental reports to the Hunters Point Shipyard Citizen’s Advisory Committee and hosts frequent meetings for staff scientists to speak to community groups.
“We put science first,” said Saul Bloom, Arc Ecology founder and executive director. “We evaluate risk calculations; we compare data. Our feeling is that there is far too much junk information out there, and it often does as much harm as good.”
A 68-acre portion of the former shipyard is now being developed by the home builder Lennar Corporation. After an environmental review, Arc Ecology determined that airborne dust particles on the site—beset by strong prevailing winds —could potentially worsen the allergies and respiratory illnesses of Bayview residents.
As a result, the organization worked with Lennar to install new air-quality monitoring stations, hire “dust monitors” to watch the site for potential dust hazards, improve placement of the misters that dampen the soil, and drape the surrounding fence with dust-catching mesh.
On the other hand, a February 2007 evaluation by Arc Ecology’s scientists determined that there was no evidence to document a long-term health threat caused by asbestos contamination on the site. “Often we find we need to tell the community that what they’re concerned about is actually not what they need to be concerned about,” Bloom said.
For more information, please visit www.arcecology.org
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