Plaintiffs’ attorneys and anti-housing activists have been beating the drum for several years in San Francisco claiming that the Hunters Point Shipyard clean-up by Tetra Tech EC was botched and fraudulent.
But as the facts emerge, the tables are turning. Statements by Tetra Tech EC are proving to be factually correct, but the allegations by former shipyard workers who have filed lawsuits over safety claims are proving to be false or spurious.
The plaintiffs have claimed in the media and legal filings that the soil at Parcel A (where homes were built by Lennar/FivePoint) was dangerously high in radiation and that residents were in danger.
They also alleged that Building 606 at Hunters Point was radiologically “hot” and unsafe for the San Francisco Police Department which has occupied the building for decades.
Most damning, the plaintiffs claim that none of the work done by Tetra Tech EC on the approximately 25 percent of the shipyard the company remediated, was properly done.
But each time regulatory authorities and health experts investigate the plaintiffs’ claims, they turn out to be spurious. Here are three examples:
Just this year, the California Department of Public Health completed a study of Parcel A at Hunters Point and found no health or safety risks to the community. The Department also said a single deck marker left over from World War II did not cause any health risks.
After an investigation and review by S.F. Department of Public Health, Building 606, used as a crime lab by San Francisco Police, was found to be safe.
Finally, there is this month’s preliminary rejection of the plaintiffs attempt to have the Nuclear Regulatory Commission strip Tetra Tech EC of its national license to do radiological clean-up work. The NRC said in its initial finding that there was no evidence to support the plaintiffs’ safety allegations.
The plaintiffs are starting to look like the little boy who cried wolf. In this case, they yelled ‘environmental fraud,’ but it seems the fraud may be the false claims the plaintiffs and their attorney are making to enrich themselves through fear-mongering at the expense of Bayview Hunters Point residents and San Franciscans.