The U.S. Navy has revealed its proposal for cleaning up a section of southern shoreline at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard — one of the last such efforts the agency needs approval for.
The Navy shuttered the shipyard in 1974, and in the early 1990s the property was included on a list of U.S. bases that would be closed and transferred to other agencies. The Navy divided the base into several parcels, each of which has its own cleanup plans.
The new proposal concerns a plot of more than 130 acres called Parcel E, plus a nearby corridor once used as a railway thoroughfare. Navy testing shows that cleaning solvents were spilled on several spots in the parcel, and contaminated waste oil was stored in a pond. There also is low-level radiation from when the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory used several buildings there.
Even after the base was closed, the pollution continued. The Navy leased most of the shipyard to the Triple A Machine Shop between 1974 and 1986, according to Navy documents. That company may have discharged waste oil into the ground at Parcel E, according to the Navy.
The government began cleaning up the property in 1994, according to Keith Forman, the Navy’s Base Realignment and Closure environmental coordinator.
The new proposal to clean up the soil and water at Parcel E includes removal, capping and bioremediation so the site can become open space in the redevelopment.
The proposal, which needs approval from many local, state and national agencies, is open to public comment until March 15.
The last remaining area of Hunters Point for which the Navy must devise a cleanup plan is the Bay itself.
mbillings@sfexaminer.com
Cleanup proposal
Soil and shoreline sediment
- Remove the most-polluted soil and sediment
- Cover remaining areas
- Use shoreline protection, such as a rock armament
Groundwater
- Containment of water using shields
- Using bacteria and/or chemicals to clean the water
- Long-term monitoring
Oily waste ponds
- Combination of removal and treatment of contaminated oil
- Long-term monitoring to make sure chemicals do not migrate
- Use inorganic compound to neutralize contamination
- Possibly use new technology to superheat oil in place and remove it
Residual radiological contamination
- Survey areas to identify low-level contamination and cap areas with two feet of soil
Source: U.S. Navy
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