(Aug 31, 2021) Oakland, CA—A federal judge Monday threw out a major Trump administration rule that scaled back federal protections for streams, marshes, and wetlands across the United States. Trump's rule would have allowed pollution and the draining and filling of streams, marshes, and wetlands.
Over forty percent of the Bay Area’s stream miles, and over sixty percent of the creeks across...
(May 24, 2021) Oakland—San Francisco Baykeeper joined a coalition of environmental and social jsutice organizations to oppose Dennis Herrera as next San Francisco Public Utilities Commission general manager, and delivered a statement today outling their opposition to San Francisco Mayor London Breed and SFPUC president Sophie Maxwell.
The groups' opposition springs from a May 14 SFPUC lawsuit...
(May 18, 2021) Oakland—San Francisco Baykeeper today submitted comments to the City of Alameda on its draft general plan update. Baykeeper applauds Alameda as one of few Bay Area jurisdictions to address climate-driven sea level rise in its general plan, and recommends that the city includes in its plan more incentirves to encourage Bay-friendly landscaping, as well as more recent projections for...
(Apr 27, 2021) Oakland—Following two years of exceptionally dry conditions, the East Bay Utility District's board of directors voted Tuesday evening (April 27) to declare a stage one drought, and asked rate payers to reduce their water use by 10 percent.
In reaction, San Francisco Baykeeper executive director Sejal Choksi-Chugh issued the following statement:
"Bay Area residents have...
(Apr 13, 2021) Today, Redwood City Salt Plant, LLC, an affiliate of Cargill Incorporated, the largest privately held company in the United States, abandoned its latest attempt to facilitate selling off its South Bay salt ponds for development. By dropping its appeal of the 2020 Federal District Court's ruling, the legal decision stands that the Redwood City salt ponds are protected under the...
(Feb 26, 2021) The EPA today abandoned a Trump-era attempt to remove federal Clean Water Act protections from the South Bay salt ponds, which would have facilitated property owner Cargill selling off the wetlands to be paved over and developed.
Trump's EPA had determined that the ponds were land and not protected under the Clean Water Act. Baykeeper sued the EPA, and in October, U.S. District...
(Feb 9, 2021) Oakland, CA—Oil infrastructure at Chevron's Richmond refinery failed today, causing oil to spill into the Bay. Chevron's initial measures to control the spill were inadequate, and oil quickly breached Chevron's containment boom. The Contra Costa Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office Community Warning System issued a public health advisory. The size of the spill is yet unknown.
In...
(Feb 2, 2021) Oakland—By law, the state is required to develop a scientifically solid plan to ensure that enough fresh water flows into San Francisco Bay to keep the water clean and to support thriving fisheries that depend on a healthy Bay ecosystem. However, Governor Gavin Newsom's administration is attempting to circumvent this requirement. At the expense of Bay health, the administration is...
(Jan 8, 2021) OAKLAND (Jan. 8, 2021) – Environmental justice and conservation groups filed an amicus brief today, calling on the California Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) to regulate metal shredding facilities throughout the state.
Filed by Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment (CRPE), San Francisco Baykeeper, and NRDC (Natural...
(Jan 5, 2021) Bacterial Pollution From Sewage Is Actionable Under Clean Water Act—In Case You Missed It
Oakland, CA—San Francisco Baykeeper, in February 2020, filed legal actions under the Clean Water Act against the cities of Sunnyvale and Mountain View. The cities both have antiquated and failing sewage and stormwater control systems, over a century old in some locations, which are spreading...