City Attorney cracks down on industrial dust in the Bayview - The San Francisco Examiner

2022-03-11 08:00:15 By : Mr. Allen Hu

‘These conditions wouldn’t be tolerated in any other neighborhood in The City’

A construction site at Gilman Avenue and Arelious Walker Drive in the Bayview district that has been blowing industrial dust into the paths of nearby homes, schools and playgrounds has been ordered to cease operations. (Craig Lee/The Examiner)

After months of sounding the alarm over harmful industrial dust blowing into homes, schools and playgrounds from nearby construction activity, residents of the Bayview’s Candlestick Heights neighborhood may finally be able to breathe easier.

On Thursday morning, City Attorney David Chiu issued a cease-and-desist order to Bauman Construction, M Squared Construction, Precision Engineering and landlord Murphy Properties to halt the concrete production, recycling and other industrial operations being conducted on privately owned parcels near the former 49ers stadium.

“No amount of dust is appropriate at this site,” Chiu, who lives in the Bayview, told The Examiner. “It is not an industrial area.”

The order comes after months of heated complaints from residents in nearby townhomes and the Alice Griffith apartment buildings who watched as heavy trucks and earthmovers rolled into the vacant lots across the street and began crushing materials, kicking up dust and tracking dirt through the community, sometimes in uncovered vehicles.

“It’s a third-world country over here,” said resident Gayle Hart. “It’s bad.”

Gayle Hart lives across the street from the construction site. (Craig Lee/The Examiner)

Thursday’s order requires the operators to wind down activities over the next few days, arguing the site is not zoned for industrial activity. Instead, these parcels fall under the Bayview Hunters Point Redevelopment Plan and within the Candlestick Mixed Use Residential District, which means the area is zoned for residential and light commercial uses, including retail, restaurants, community centers, and childcare and recreational facilities.

“The redevelopment plan serves as the zoning controls for this area,” said Jim Morales, the acting executive director and general counsel for the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (OCII), which oversees the redevelopment plan for the area. “It’s a substitute for the planning code.”

Mike Bauman said the order caught him off guard. “It was a surprise to receive the letter,” he said. “As far as we know, and as informed by our landlord, the property is zoned M-1 industrial, and our lease is based on that zoning. There are numerous other construction companies operating in the area. I’d expect, The City to perform a proper investigation before accusing Bauman.”

Still, the order falls short of permanently curtailing industrial activity in the neighborhood by leaving open the possibility for the companies to apply for a temporary or interim land use authorization with OCII.

Although Morales said OCII never authorized the companies to begin operating in the area in the first place, it would still be obligated to consider any applications for interim use requests. But, he said, its standards are pretty strict.

“While this is a complicated web of public health, environmental and land use issues, it is crystal clear that the land Bauman is operating on is not zoned for industrial uses,” said Chiu.

Chiu’s office has not been the only agency investigating the operators. Over the past few months, at the urging of concerned residents, the Department of Public Health, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) and S.F. Public Works have all been asked to inspect the area.

The air district sent updates to District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton’s office throughout January and February, records obtained by The Examiner show. The air district previously issued two violations to Bauman, one for operating without a permit and another for administrative violations.

Records obtained by The Examiner also show air district staff observed the “dumping of wet soil into Precision’s yard,” and that dust was being emitted from trucks entering and exiting Precision’s facility. Precision’s mountainous dirt piles were observed to be only partially covered by a tarp, which is not a violation, but “can be a source of dust,” reports found.

Additionally, the company routinely did not comply with dust control measures, such as using watering trucks to suppress dirt tracked through the community. Precision’s watering trucks “were only initiated after contact with staff” on a number of occasions, the reports show.

Chiu’s office also noticed a daily parade of about 30-40 trucks hauling raw material, including broken concrete and asphalt, in and out of the site — confirming what many residents had been saying for months.

“I’m seeing all these trucks with no cover, fully with dirt, and as they’re driving and bouncing along, you can see dirt coming from the trucks,” said Hart. “You can smell the diesel fuel.”

Murphy Properties has asserted its parcels comply with The City’s zoning laws, and these open lots — a rarity in San Francisco — have long been used for industrial activity. This was true, said Morales, until the redevelopment plan was introduced in 2010 and changed the zoning codes.

Many residents say the zoning policies have long burdened the Bayview community, who are predominantly people of color and suffer disproportionately from respiratory and other diseases compared to other neighborhoods.

“It’s this whole indifference to Black life,” said Ray Tompkins, a retired chemistry teacher and environmental activist. “This is what you’re seeing now … this form of racism, this subtle, quiet but deadly, deadly form of it. And that’s what we see.”

Whatever the outcome, this cease-and-desist order is poised to clear the air — at least for now.

“There have long been concerns about environmental health hazards in the Bayview and equity questions those hazards raise,” said Chiu. “We cannot allow Black and brown neighborhoods to be a pollution free-for-all. These conditions wouldn’t be tolerated in any other neighborhood in The City, and they shouldn’t be tolerated in the Bayview.”

A photo of a violation from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District against Bauman Construction for no permit to operate equipment at a construction site in the Bayview where numerous residents have complained about the operation kicking up large amounts of dust. (Bay Area Air Quality Management District via public records request)

A photo of a violation from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District against Bauman Construction for not having monitoring equipment at a construction site in the Bayview where numerous residents have complained about the operation kicking up large amounts of dust. (Bay Area Air Quality Management District via public records request)

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