Month: July 2020

BURLINGAME HIGH SCHOOL (41820008) on toxic waste site

Site History

Envirostor (State of California) page 400 CAROLAN AVENUE BURLINGAME, CA 94010-2708

Google Map

Map of the site is on page “The 22-acre site located at 400 Carolan Avenue, in Burlingame. It is the existing Burlingame High School (built in the late 1910s). DTSC reviewed a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (Phase I) and determined that a Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA) was required.

A Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA, 2003/04) investigated the site for metals, organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), total petroleum hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds and metals. The PEA report identified lead and PCB around the main building, and elevated arsenic in the athletic field. DTSC issued further action for Lead/PCB, and additional investigation for the arsenic.

Supplemental site investigations defined the extent of lead impacted soils and identified elevated levels of arsenic in soils in various areas of the campus.
A Removal Action Workplan (RAW) for lead and PCBs was approved for implementation in December 2005 for areas around the main building. The removal began in January 2006 and was completed in June 2007. Financial hardship caused delays in the completion of the removal. Once financial issues were resolved, the District took confirmation samples to confirm clean-up goals were met. Continue reading “BURLINGAME HIGH SCHOOL (41820008) on toxic waste site” →

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SF – NAVAL STATION TREASURE ISLAND (38370044)

Site History

Envirostor (State of California) page 550 ACRES; BETWEEN SAN FRANCISCO & OAKLAND, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94130

Google Map

“Naval Station Treasure Island (NSTI) is located in San Francisco Bay (Bay), midway between San Francisco and Oakland, California. The facility consists of two contiguous islands: Treasure Island (TI), which is approximately 550 acres, and Yerba Buena Island (YBI), which is approximately 550 acres. Stormwater outfalls and offshore sediments (Site 13) encompass approximately 563 additional acres. Treasure Island is a manmade island that is anchored to a natural rock island (YBI), that was constructed of materials dredged from the Bay in 1936. The island was developed to be the site of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. In response to a Navy request, in 1941, the City of San Francisco leased TI to the Navy for the duration of World War II. After the war, the city agreed to transfer the deed for TI to the Navy in exchange for government-owned land south of San Francisco where the San Francisco International Airport was later built. TI provided administrative and support facilities for processing Pacific-bound naval personnel, and for the administrative operations of other Navy, Marine Reserves, and non-military Federal activities. Military activities at YBI date back to 1866. In 1993, NSTI was designated for closure under the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC) of 1990. The base was closed on September 30, 1997, and is currently in the transfer process.

In April 1988, a Preliminary Assessment/Site Inspection (PA/SI) Report of the facility was prepared for the Naval Energy and Environmental Support Activity (NEESA). Based on information from historical records, aerial photos, agency contacts, field inspection, and personnel interviews, a total of 20 areas were identified with potential contamination and for additional site investigation. These identified acres included: a medical clinic; a former foundry; a boiler plant; an old bunker; stormwater outfalls; a refuse transfer area; a car hobby shop; an oil recovery waste facility; a seaplane maintenance shop; an exchange service station; a hydraulic training school; a painting shop; two storage shed areas; a landfill; and fire training fuel tank releases. During subsequent investigations additional sites were identified that brought the total number of sites to 33. Contaminants include: low-level radioactive waste, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, pesticides, paints, waste oil and fuel, solvents, asbestos, acids, and heavy metals.

Since closure of the base in 1997, nearly all of TI has been leased to the City of San Francisco for a variety of uses including movie production, an elementary school and daycare center, approximately 750 rental housing units, and an Olympic sailing school at Clipper Cove. In addition, 35 acres were transferred to the Federal Department of Labor for the establishment of a job corps center on TI. Portions of YBI were also transferred to the State to facilitate the construction of the new East Bay Bridge. The remainder of the land on YBI is comprised of housing that is controlled by the City of San Francisco and a U.S. Coast Guard Station that occupies the southern half of the island.

EnviroStor includes separate profiles for 13 of the 33 sites that provide the current, ongoing and projected activities for each site. The previous reports and historical documents for these 13 sites were retained in this basewide profile. The 13 sites are:
Site 6 – Fire Training School (4.54 acres, EnviroStor # 60001091)
Site 8 – Army Point Sludge Disposal Area (3.12 acres, EnviroStor # 60001161)
Site 11 – YBI Landfill (2.88 acres, EnviroStor # 60001162)
Site 12 – Old Bunker Area (93.2 acres, EnviroStor # 60001092)
Site 21 – Vessel Waste Oil Recovery Area (2 acres, EnviroStor # 60001093)
Site 24 – Dry Cleaning Facility (20.46 acres, EnviroStor # 60001094)
Site 27 – Clipper Cove (19.55 acres, EnviroStor # 60001095)
Site 28 – West Side On/Off Ramp (10.53 acres, EnviroStor # 60001096)
Site 29 – East Side On/Off Ramp (15.13 acres, EnviroStor # 60001164)
Site 30 – Day Care Center (1.46 acres, EnviroStor # 60001097)
Site 31 – Former South Storage Yard (2.02 acres, EnviroStor # 60001098)
Site 32 – Former Training and Storage Area (2.6 acres, EnviroStor # 60001099)
Site 33 – Water Line Replacement Area (4.89 acres, EnviroStor # 60001100)

Updated 09/07/2018 – KAW”

Deed Restriction / Land Use Covenant:

Envirostor (State of California) Land Use Restrictions Page

YBI Covenant to Restrict Use of Property (CRUP)

Note this Land use Restriction by the State of California only applies to Yorba Buena Island, while the rest of the base is under the EPA Superfund Site.

  • ACTIVITIES PROHIBITED WHICH DISTURB THE REMEDIATION AND MONITORING SYSTEMS WITHOUT APPROVAL
  • ANNUAL INSPECTION AND/OR REPORT REQUIRED
  • DAY CARE CENTER PROHIBITED
  • ELDER CARE CENTER PROHIBITED
  • HOSPITAL USE PROHIBITED
  • NO DRILLING FOR DRINKING WATER, OIL OR GAS WITHOUT APPROVAL
  • NO EXCAVATION OR ACTIVITIES WHICH DISTURB THE SOIL AT ANY DEPTH WITHOUT APPROVAL OF A SOIL MANAGEMENT PLAN AND/OR HEALTH AND SAFETY PLAN
  • NOTIFY DAMAGES TO REMEDY AND MONITORING SYSTEMS NO LATER THAN 10 DAYS UPON DISCOVERY
  • NOTIFY DETAILS OF COMPLETION OF ANY REPAIRS OF DAMAGES TO REMEDY AND MONITORING SYSTEMS NO LATER THAN 30 DAYS AFTER REPAIR.

POTENTIAL CONTAMINANTS OF CONCERN

DIOXIN (AS 2,3,7,8-TCDD TEQ)
LEAD
OTHER
PETROLEUM
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBS)
POLYFLUORINATED ALKYLATED SUBSTANCES (PFAS)
POLYNUCLEAR AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS (PAHS)
RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES
UNCATEGORIZED
VOLATILE ORGANICS (8260B VOCS)

Envirostor disclaimer

NPL means EPA National Priorities List (Superfund)

SF – MARINA VISTA PROJECT (38270353) Voluntary Cleanup

Site History

Envirostor (State of California) page for MARINA VISTA PROJECT (38270353) 725 2ND STREET (75 & 99 TOWNSEND) SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107

“The 78,000 square foot site has been developed into a 14-story high-rise residential building with both retail stores and living units on the first floor. The City of San Francisco oversaw the installation of the cap.”

Google Map

Deed Restriction / Land Use Covenant:

Envirostor (State of California) Deed Restriction Page

Deed Restriction / Land Use Covenant   9/28/1998  
  • ACTIVITIES PROHIBITED WHICH DISTURB THE REMEDY AND MONITORING SYSTEMS WITHOUT APPROVAL
  • ASPHALT COVER NOT TO BE DISTURBED WITHOUT APPROVAL
  • LAND USE COVENANT
  • NO EXCAVATION OF CONTAMINATED SOILS WITHOUT AGENCY REVIEW AND APPROVAL
  • NO GROUNDWATER EXTRACTION AT ANY DEPTH WITHOUT APPROVAL
  • NOTIFY DAMAGES TO REMEDY AND MONITORING SYSTEMS UPON DISCOVERY
  • REQUIRES SURFACE COVERS

POTENTIAL CONTAMINANTS OF CONCERN:

Arsenic
Lead

POLYNUCLEAR AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS (PAHS)
Benzo(a)anthracene
Benzo(b)fluoranthene
Benzo(a)pyrene
Dibenzo(qh)anthracene

Envirostor disclaimer

SF- 1598 BAY STREET (60002282) Voluntary Cleanup

Site History

Envirostor Page for 1598 BAY STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94123

Google Map

“The 1598 Bay Site is within the larger Pacific Gas and Electric Former North Beach Manufactured Gas Plant Site (MGP) Site identified and managed as APN 0459007. As part of the PG&E Former North Beach MGP Site, PG&E in 2016 excavated and disposed of approximately 9,000 cubic yards of soil impacted with MGP-residues, primarily polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The Removal Action Completion report for PG&E North Beach MGP- APN 0459007 documents the soil removal by PG&E.

As part of redevelopment of the Site into a four-story residential building with a first floor parking garage, the property owner/developer (also under DTSC oversight), installed and conducted verification testing of a vapor mitigation system (VMS). The Site Management Plan Implementation Report for the 1598 Bay Site documents the installation and verification testing of the VMS.

Post-construction indoor air and outdoor air sampling has been conducted and has been demonstrated to be protective for future occupants. Contamination left in place is addressed with institutional controls in the form of a Land Use Covenant and Agreement between DTSC and the property owner. Long term operation and maintenance of the VMS is managed under the Verification, Operation, and Maintenance Plan and Operations and Maintenance Agreement. (Updated by JT August 14, 2019).” Continue reading “SF- 1598 BAY STREET (60002282) Voluntary Cleanup” →

SF – 518 MINNA STREET SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103 STATE RESPONSE OR NPL

Site History

Envirostor Page for 518 MINNA STREET SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103

“The Site was originally marshland on the margin of the Mission Bay which was filled with dune sands and silt in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s for development. The Site has been used for residences, commercial lodging and parking lots from the 1899 until it was purchased by the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency in 1991. ASIAN Inc. has redeveloped the property into affordable housing units and one commercial unit.” Continue reading “SF – 518 MINNA STREET SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103 STATE RESPONSE OR NPL” →

LittleSis Map database showing the interconnections of politicians in SF with land developers

LittleSis Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island Development
LittleSIS is a mapping tool and database that connects politicians and their relatives to their donors and relatives. Handy tool for navigating politics and land development.

“Lennar acquires decommissioned military bases in California.

Nancy Pelosi’s nephew Laurence Pelosi was the manager of acquisitions for Lennar when they were granted the agreements to build on California’s decommissioned  military bases.”

SF – 241 SIXTH STREET (38990011) San Francisco, CA, VOLUNTARY CLEANUP

Site History:

Envirostor (State of California) Page for 241 SIXTH STREET (38990011) San Francisco, CA

The site was formerly a marsh land which was filled in with contaminated soil containing lead and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The Site was redeveloped into a multi-story affordable housing complex.

Google Map

Deed Restriction / Land Use Covenant:

Envirostor (State of California) Deed Restriction Page for 241 SIXTH STREET (38990011) San Francisco, CA 94103

Deed Restriction / Land Use Covenant  6/17/1994

  • ACTIVITIES PROHIBITED WHICH DISTURB THE REMEDY AND MONITORING SYSTEMS WITHOUT APPROVAL
  • LAND USE COVENANT
  • NOTIFY PRIOR TO SUBSURFACE WORK

pp. 6-7 of the Deed Restriction:

3.1 Restrictions on Use. Covenanter and Owner agree to restrict the use of the Property as follows:

3.1.1 The use of the Property is restricted to the development, construction, occupancy and maintenance of the affordable multi-family housing units as approved by the Department. No other use shall be allowed without the prior approval of the Department.

3.1.2 The Property shall not be used in such a way that will disturb or interfere with the integrity of any hazardous substance containment or monitoring system.

3.1.3 There shall not be any activity on the Property which will cause any potential harm to public health or safety or the environment.

Current Owners or companies on site: John Stewart Company Knox SRO

Envirostor disclaimer

LEGACY OF CONTAMINATION. A California Naval base shutters, and contamination lingers decades later/ Reuters

Article Link
Reuters looks into the nuclear contamination of the EPA Superfund site, Treasure Island which is in San Francisco Bay and it is being developed by contractors with close ties to Bay Area politicians. The City put low income housing on the former barracks and houses on the site. People are getting sick. The Navy and the city are trying to cover this up but kids are finding radioactive materials all over the island.

One girl who became ill had a jewelry box her “Treasure Box” with radium painted dials and radioactive beads. [Editors note: Fallout beads]

Disaster Area Editor:
Why would these be on Treasure Island? Treasure Island was the Navy’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical training school. They are exactly the thing you need to train sailors on how to detect radiation and so they buried these things in the ground for the sailors to find. And that is the only way they could have been dug up by this little girl in her yard or on the playground at her school on Treasure Island.

Most military bases who operated ships and airplanes had radium painted dials and markers used to operate machines, engines etc in no-light situations. When they realized that these markers were radioactive and that they were dangerous, these bases removed them and buried them in the ground, with no care that it might spread the contamination into the water table.

Most EPA superfund sites for military bases have the radium dial markers as one of the things that make it a federal cleanup site. Usually there are others like PCBs (dioxin) and Trichloroethylene (TCE), unexploded ordinance (which is quite common in the Bay Area). You can search for these specific chemicals on the Envirostor website which is the State of California’s Toxic Waste site or on the GeoTracker site which covers California and federal cleanup sites. The Geotracker map shows little squares that indicate a toxic waste location and if you click on them it will show the name of the site.

Treasure Island, in San Francisco CA the Navy’s Atomic, Biological and Chemical (ABC) School Course List

Treasure Island which is being developed for real estate by builders with political connections even though it is an EPA Superfund site for Nuclear Radiation; the city of San Francisco placed public housing on the site in the former barracks of the base. For background on this problem look at this article by Reuters “A California Naval base shutters, and contamination lingers decades later” CONDEMNED: After the Navy closed the Treasure Island base in 1997, San Francisco planned much-needed new housing. Decades later, pollution lingers, leaving new housing a mirage.” REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage.

This is a course list from 1978 of the courses provided on the Island at the US Navy’s Command School and Damage Control School. Note the Atomic, Biological and Chemical (ABC) school was renamed Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) school.

The school built a mockup of a ship USS Pandemonium which they laced with Radioactive Isotopes and the sailors learned to find the radiation and use various techniques to clean the ship by hand and also use fire-fighting hoses to spray the radiation off of the ship and down the drain into the Bay. Also they buried radioactive materials all over the island for the sailors to find.

This most likely explains how a little girl had fallout beads in her treasure box, along with radium dials that were removed from ships which she found digging for “Treasure” on Treasure Island! Fallout varies in size the larger closer into a nuclear blast and when it forms, it becomes a bead or drop shaped piece of glass. The US Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory at Hunters Point Shipyard collected fallout at nuclear tests by specifically collecting this fallout for study by building collectors placed at the Nuclear Test Sites.

The Courses:

Guide to the Evaluation of Educational Experiences in the Armed Services. The 1978 Guide. 3: Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy.
American Council on Education, Washington, DC Office on Educational Credit
Department of Defense, Washington, DC 1978

NV-0801-0004 NBC DEFENSE FOR PETTY OFFICERS

Course Number: Not available.
Location: Version I: Damage Control Training Center, Philadelphia, PA.
Version 2: Damage Control School, Treasure Island, CA.
Length: 3 weeks (90 hours).
Exhibit Dates: 5/68-Present.
Objectives: To train personnel to perform as advanced damage-control men strikers.
Instruction: Lectures and practical exercises in nuclear, biological, and chemical defense afloat, including classification, detection, and decontamination of BW /CW agents and nuclear radiation; operation and maintenance of radiac equipment, maintenance of protective clothing and masks; training of personnel in monitoring and decontamination procedures for repair parties; nuclear warfare defense; and NBC warfare defense organization.
Credit Recommendation: No credit because of the military nature of the course (5/74).

NV-0801-0005 NBC WARFARE DEFENSE ASHORE

Course Number: A-7K-011.
Location: Version 1: Army Chemical School, Ft. McClellan, AL. Version 2: Schools Command, Treasure Island, CA.
Length: 6 weeks (168-185 hours).
Exhibit Dates: 4/66 – Present.
Objectives: To Train officers to perform as disaster control officers for shore establishments.
Instruction: Lectures and practical exercises in disaster control procedures, including organization; nuclear, biological and chemical agents and effects; nuclear, biological and chemical warfare defense and accident control; disaster control operation; radiological detection; and decontamination.
Credit Recommendation: no credit because of the military nature of the course (12/68)

NV-0802-0001 ABC DEFENSE FOR SHIPBOARD INSTRUCTORS

Course Number: None
Location: Damage Control Training Center, Treasures Island, CA
Length: 3 Weeks (104 hours).
Exhibit Dates: 1/62-12/68
Objectives: To train enlisted personnel to assist officers in organizing and donducting training programs in shipboard defense.
Instruction: Lectures in instructor training and in nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare defense afloat.
Credit Recommendation: In the vocational certificate category, 1 semester hour in occupational safety (1/74), in the lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 1 semester hour in occupational safety (1/74)

NV-0802-0008 ABC WARFARE DEFENSE AFLOAT

Course Number: Not available.
Location: Version 1: Damage Control Training Center, Philadelphia, PA. Version 2: Schools Command, Treasure Island, CA
Length: 5 weeks (123-174 hours).
Exhibit Dates: 12/59-12/68.
Objectives: To train officers in atomic, biological, and chemical warfare defense afloat.
Instruction: Lectures and practical exercises on ABC warfare defense afloat including atomic, biological, and chemical warfare effects on personnel, ships and equipment; methods used to reduce or negate these effects; casualty minimization; requirements of shipboard ABC-damage control; radiological detections; nuclear weapon accidents, protection and decontamination; disaster recovery; shipboard organization, and anti-personnel biological warfare.
Credit Recommendation: No credit because of the specialized nature of the course (12/68).

NV-1715-0545 RADIAC INSTRUMENT MAINTENANCE

Course Number: A-670-0020.
Location: Version 1: Damage Control School, Treasure Island, CA. Version 2: Naval Schools Command, Treasure Island, CA/
Length: Version 1: 5 weeks (82 hours). Version 2: 4 weeks (90 hours).
Exhibit Dates: Version 1: 8/70-Present.
Version 2: 1/66-7/70.
Objectives: To Train enlisted personnel to be radiac technicians.
Instruction: Lectures and practical exercises in operation, maintenance, and repair of radiation related equipment, including dosage hazards, radiological monitoring and decontamination; basic nuclear physics; radiac computer indicator, detector, and calibrator maintenance; radioactive sources leak testing, atomic energy commission license requirements, electronics review; and standard test equipment.
Credit Recommendation: Version 1: In the vocational certificate category, 2 semester hours in radiation equipment maintenance (4/74); in the lower-division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 2 semester hours in radiation equipment maintenance, and credit in physics laboratory on the basis of institutional examination (4/74); in the upper-division baccalaureate category, credit in electrical laboratory on the basis of institutional examination (4/74). Version 2: In the vocational certificate category, 1 semester hour in radiation equipment maintenance (4/74); in the lower-division (redacted) baccalaureate/associated degree category, 1 Semester hour in radiation equipment maintenance, and credit in physics laboratory on the basis of instructional examination (4/74); in the upper-division baccalaureate category, credit in electrical laboratory ON THE BASIS OF INSTITUTIONAL EXAMINATION (4/74).

NV-1728-0012 DAMAGE CONTROLLMEN CLASS A HT-A PHASE 1

Course Number: A-780-0035; A-780-0036.
Location: Damage Control Training Center, Philadelphia, PA; Damage Control Training Center, Treasure Island, CA.
Length: 7-8 weeks (240 hours).
Exhibit Dates: 7/70-Present.
Objectives: To train enlisted personnel in damage control techniques.
Instruction: Lectures and practical exercises in hull and hull system, casualty control, shoring, hull and pipe patching, plastic repairs, firefighting, basic nuclear physics, characteristics of nuclear bursts, classification and detection of biological and chemical agents, shipboard decontamination, use and care of oxygen breathing equipment.
Credit Recommendation: In/the vocational certificate category, 1 semester hour in firefighting, 3 in damage control (5/74); in the lower-division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 1 semester hour in firefighting, 3 in damage control (5/74)

Naval Standards

Apprentice (E-2)

914 NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL (NBC) DEFENSE

914201 Use of protective mask in a chamber or environment of riot control agent (CS) or dense smoke
914202 Use of currently issued protective and self-aid equipment and methods of adapting regularly issued clothing and equipment for protection against contamination.
914203 Markers used to indicate that an area in contaminated
914204 Means by which biological operation agents enter the body
914205 Methods of dissemination of agents : (A) aerosols; (B) sabotage
914206 Methods used to decontaminate personnel

914207 Use of atropine
914208 Characteristics and effects of the following: (A) nerve agents; (B) blister agents; (C) blood agents; (D) choking agents; (E) screening agents
914209 Protective measures to be followed in the event of NBC attack
914210 Duties of member of a decontamination team
914211 Duties of member of a monitoring team other than monitor
914212 General procedures to be followed prior to, during, and after attack as set forth in the NBC defense bills

Apprentice (E-3)

914 NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL (NBC) DEFENSE

914301 Effects of nuclear radiation (alpha and beta particles, gamma rays and neutrons)
914302 Meanwhile of the following terms as applied to radiological defense: (A) radiac; (B) radiation dose; (C) radiation dose rate; (D) safe stay time; (E) material condition “Circle William”
914303 Differences between radiation and radiological contamination
914304 Purpose and use of the casualty dosimeter in terms of when used, by whom, and for what purpose
914305 Purpose, use of, and how to interpret a self-reading pocket dosimeter

Petty Officer Second Class (E-5)

914 NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL (NBC) DEFENSE

914501 Basic organization of teams to decontaminate radioactive areas and areas contaminated by chemical or biological agents.

Radioactive object found near homes at Hunters Point shipyard

Article Link:

Jason Fagone and Cynthia Dizikes Sep. 13, 2018 Updated: Sep. 14, 2018 9:39 a.m. San Francisco Chronicle

Approximate location of the deck marker located just outside the submarine barracks where the workers who cleaned the radiation on ships sent to Hunters Point Shipyard after the nuclear tests in the pacific were cleaned. Ironically the builder ( Lennar) of the New Construction had their onsite headquarters in one of these barracks where the nuclear radiation contaminated workers ate their lunch. I wonder if their workers knew they were headquartered on one of the most nuclear contaminated buildings on the site? Generally they were designed to be a buffer zone between the contaminated portions of the base where workers would shower and change clothes after they spent the day sandblasting the radiation off of the ships. Eventually the Navy gave up on the ships that were the target of the nuclear blasts and sank them off the coast of most of the ports on the west coast of the US.

The USS Indianapolis that was cleaned at Hunters Point and then sunk at what is now the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The Navy stuffed the ship with thousands of barrels of nuclear waste when they sent it to the bottom of the Bay and they also dumped the barrels off the Farallon Islands where unfortunately they are only a few hundred feet in depth well within the range of fishing vessels for the Bay Area.

The Article:
“A highly radioactive object has been discovered at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard next to a housing area that has been declared safe and free of radioactive contamination for more than a decade, The Chronicle has learned. The finding is the latest problem at San Francisco’s most ambitious redevelopment project in a century — an effort to transform a 500-acre Superfund waste site into a bustling waterfront neighborhood of 12,000 homes.”

“The housing area is known as Parcel A. The California Department of Public Health is scanning it for radioactivity after revelations that employees of the Navy’s main cleanup contractor, Tetra Tech, faked radiation measurements in other parts of the shipyard. Parcel A residents and city officials demanded a test after whistle-blowers and media reports raised the possibility that some of those problems may have extended to Parcel A, where 300 housing units have been completed and an additional 150 are under construction.But the discovery of a radium device is startling because the city and multiple government agencies have said for years that any contamination on Parcel A was cleaned up long ago. The Navy transferred the 75-acre parcel to the city in 2004. The land is now owned by home builder and developer Lennar Corp. Public officials have repeatedly assured residents that no harmful radioactivity exists near their homes and they have nothing to worry about.”