In February 2022, residents of Bayview-Hunters Point led a march down Third Street demanding the complete clean-up of toxic and radioactive waste from the Naval Shipyard and surrounding areas. Led by activists and organizers from the Marie Harrison Community Foundation, Bayview Hunters Point Mothers and Fathers Committee, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, and other allies including Youth v. Apocalypse, PSL and SF Bay PSR, the rally served as a call to action to address the longstanding environmental and health catastrophes within the neighborhood. Residents living adjacent to the Superfund complex suffer disproportionate rates of cancer, asthma, preterm birth and infant mortality while remaining medically and socially underserved.
“There are three women here with cancer who are living within four blocks of each other. One of them just died in December 2021; another is Mary Ratcliff. These are real people,” said Dr. Ahimsa Porter Sumchai at the rally.
The Hunters Point Biomonitoring Foundation, founded by Dr. Sumchai, is recently received a CalEPA Environmental Justice small grant to develop a virtual Community Window on Environmental Exposures with the ultimate goal of developing the Hunters Point Community Toxic Registry. The registry will be modeled after the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program and will connect exposed residents and workers with comprehensive medical, legal and social services and open additional avenues of research into how Shipyard exposures impact the community’s health and wellbeing. Learn more about this work here.
The community is already organizing a youth-led Mass March on Friday April 22, 2022, for People’s Earth Day and will center around full clean-up and justice for Bayview-Hunters Point and Treasure Island.
Feel free to reach out to Dr. Aude Bouagnon with questions, ideas or feedback at audetojoy@gmail.com