Radioactive plutonium was found in the air above Bayview-Hunters Point at twice the federal government’s recommended levels, according to a letter San Francisco’s chief health officer sent to the U.S. Navy today.
The plutonium was found above a parcel in the Hunters Point Shipyard, a Superfund site that has seen decades of radioactive pollution. The measurements were made after years of remediation, and the shipyard is now home to hundreds of housing units.
The levels of plutonium detected were about double the safe concentrations known as “action levels,” according to the letter from Dr. Susan Philip, San Francisco’s health officer. An action level is a threshold that would trigger further investigation.
But the Navy, which measured the high concentration in November 2024, delayed informing the city of its finding for 11 months.
In fact, a Navy representative was adamant when he spoke to Mission Local in July, months after high levels of plutonium were reported to have been found, that the area where the plutonium was discovered posed no risks to residents. He did not mention elevated findings of plutonium.
Kai Vetter, a University of California, Berkeley, nuclear physics professor who specializes in radiation detection, said that a plutonium level at two times the action level should not be a “cause for concern.”
It would take 1,000 times the action level to see detrimental health impacts from radiation such as cancer and radiation poisoning, Vetter said.
But what may be concerning, Vetter said, is both the delay in relaying the findings to the Department of Public Health and the letter’s mention of the grinding of contaminated asphalt, which could cause dust to blow to neighboring communities.
City officials criticized the federal government’s lack of communication. They said in a letter today that they were deeply concerned over the level of plutonium and the delay in the notification. They demanded the feds notify the city of future radioactivity “without delay.”
“This has ,unfortunately, been par for the course for the navy to lack transparency and attempt to misguide community,” read a statement from Supervisor Shamann Walton, who represents the district. His office will call for a hearing on “the navy’s lack of transparency and any safety issues on the shipyard,” he said.
The city has requested the Navy immediately provide all information relevant to the incident, including any activities that may have led to it and any actions the Navy has taken in response to the level of plutonium. It also requested the Navy to provide a full year of air monitoring data for independent review.
In its letter to Bayview residents, the city promised that it would share more information as soon as it becomes available and “hold federal and state partners accountable to the highest safety standards.”
The plutonium was measured in the air above Parcel C. That area has been used for industrial purposes since the late 1800s, when the shipyard was used as a drydock to build and repair commercial and military ships.
Since then, the parcel, which covers approximately 78 acres, has been subject to toxic contamination after the Navy used the shipyard for Cold War-era radioactive testing following World War II.
Since Mission Local last spoke to Michael Pound, a representative from the Navy in July, the final phase of the cleanup of Parcel C was scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2026.
Pound was adamant that the Hunters Point shipyard, including Parcel C, posed no credible risk to nearby residents. Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency repeated this claim during a monthly meeting for nearby residents held near the shipyard in July.
The cleanup is subject to variable changes, Pound said in July, and a timeline to complete the cleanup is “hard to predict,” if radioactive materials are found while excavating the shipyard’s six plots of contaminated land, divided into parcels.
In 2023, several radioactive objects were found at the shipyard, including a small piece of glass and a deck marker made with radioactive materials, used to guide ships at night.
The finding set back a cleanup process that has already been delayed years following the discovery that Tetra Tech, an engineering firm contracted by the Navy, falsified the radiation level of soil samples over the course of four years, from 2008 to 2012.
“Trust has been difficult to build again” with residents living in Hunters Point, some of whom have lived in the area for decades, since the shipyard was used as a Naval base, Pound said in July.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more information.
“the safe concentration”.
There is no “safe” concentration of Plutonium. Ever since they tried to claim flyovers were adequate for determining the conditions at the site, the Navy’s been holding a finger in the air trying to minimize liability. What a disservice to the tax paying public.
I certainly would not disturb, that stuff by trying to build anything on it.
“In July, Mission Local spoke to Michael Pound, a representative from the Navy, who said the Hunters Point Shipyard, including Parcel C, posed no credible risk to nearby residents.”
Michael Pound, you sir are a liar! x<1 MICROGRAM of Plutonium can kill.
Just one more outrage from the outrageous pile of lies over the years.
How can anyone be trying to minimize airborne Plutonium in 2025?
It's so far beyond ignorance, it's a willful coverup and nothing less.
“Trust has been difficult to build again” – Understatement of the 20th century.
I believe that Chris Roberts recently did some pretty amazing and thorough investigative work on this subject.
All those new homes along the bay front, hazardous waste is below them, not safe to live there but somehow they still decided to build. Even if you concrete the 78 acres 20 feet deep, run off water will go int the bay. Not safe and obviously a cover up.
Thank for covering this it is sad that we have already detected rabidum, uranium and plutonium in our residence body
It is factually untrue that people in Bayview Hunters Point have not been harm or havent had negative health . There is a bigger story hear and it needs be talked about for more insight contact a.harrison@sfmhcf.org
So sad, Too bad. I have artist friends, that have their studios in that area. Even if they do clean it up, which is a bad idea, because in doing so they are disrupting the particles, I would not build housing on it. Instead try and turn it into some sort of park.
Don’t forget about Treasure Island and the sunken USS Independence with 48000 barrels of radioactive waste dumped near the Farallon Islands.
Been common knowledge for decades this area is contaminated and the continued fight between the city of San Francisco and the Navy regarding to who is liable for cleaning it up is a joke. Question is are either capable to actually resolve the issue or is this this part of the deflection and misdirection strategy.
Yea! but not in that area, what about the Sunset or Richmond, or Pacific heights even.
Now let’s investigate the soil being transported in and out of candlestick. Some being brought in from treasure island. They say because candlestick keeps flooding. But want to build anyway. Five keys says the soil is tested.
People have been suspecting and saying this for years, it was clear to most of the residents that conditions were not safe. Now that we know they withheld information, they should do the right thing and invest more into neighborhood.
If the federal government wants trust with the city, they need to own their lies and double down on the community that was harmed.
Who cares about the radionuclides, we nead moar h-o-u-s-i-n-g.
YIMBYs dont uptake Plutonium, they only take cash.
Well this is an absurdist conclusion of YIMBY priorities, that is true.