Banging pots and pans and
carrying signs, 75 community and environmental activists gathered
at 7 a.m.
Friday, April 29th, at
the Zeneca Simeon/Campus Bay clean-up site in Richmond. Demonstrators
delivered a “wake up call” to Cal EPA, demanding that
the agency shift oversight of the clean-up from the Water Board to
the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), as supported by
a unanimous vote of the Richmond City Council in March.
Zeneca, the former site
of Stauffer Chemical, and the adjoining UC Field Station are extremely
contaminated. According to Sherry Padgett, who worked for eight
years downwind and has
suffered severe health reactions, 350,000 cubic yards of chemical
waste is still buried at the site under a 30-acre, eight-foot high
cap.
Ladonna Williams, representing
People for Children's Health and Environmental Justice,
reminded the crowd that experience has shown that vigilance is required,
regardless of which agency has oversight. She recommended a direct
appeal to CalEPA itself. “The reality is neither agency [DTSC
or the Water Board] will adequately clean this site up or inform you
about what’s really out here and how serious the real hazard
is.”
KPFA radio covered the Friday demonstration, interviewing Sherry as
well as Rick Alcaraz, who worked at the Field Station as a groundskeeper
in the late 1960s. Rick reported that his job included burying more
than a hundred of barrels of toxic waste at the UC Berkeley Richmond
Field Station that had been produced at the Lawrence Lab.
Actions organized by the RPA and its environmental allies have elevated
the struggle, bringing it to the attention of local media and elected
representatives. As reported in the Berkeley Daily Planet, Assemblywoman
Loni Hancock was inspired by the grassroots battle over development
at the Campus Bay site to develop legislation that changes the way
that California handles hazardous waste sites.
On Tuesday, April 26, Hancock’s Assembly Bill 1360 passed out
of committee with a 5-2 vote. On its way to legislative approval,
the bill would create a new category of toxic waste site called a
“public health priority site” whenever development of
a day care center, residential housing, or a hospital is planned for
land where hazardous waste has been stored.
Under the new legislation, such sites would fall under the jurisdiction
of the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), which
currently has authority over cleanup of toxic sites where schools
are to be built. Hancock said she created AB 1360 to prevent the practice
of “forum shopping,” which permits a developer to select
a less stringent agency to coordinate toxic cleanup.
To access the KPFA audio clip, click
here: http://soula.org/-/zt.
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