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Zeneca Action to Wake Up Cal EPA
April 29, 2005

Gayle McLaughlin, Richmond City Councilmember

Sherry Pagett, Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development

Richmond resident, Dr. Jeff Reitterman, Cardiologist, Richmond Kaiser

Daniel Cabrera and Michael Burton protecting selves while protesting

Shukuru Coleman, Jesus Del Toro and Fred Jackson

Article courtesy of the June 2005
Richmond Progressive Alliance Action Alert

Banging pots and pans and carrying signs, 75 community and environmental activists gathered at 7 a.m.

Friday, April 29th, at the Zeneca Simeon/Campus Bay clean-up site in Richmond. Demonstrators delivered a “wake up call” to Cal EPA, demanding that the agency shift oversight of the clean-up from the Water Board to the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), as supported by a unanimous vote of the Richmond City Council in March.

Zeneca, the former site of Stauffer Chemical, and the adjoining UC Field Station are extremely contaminated. According to Sherry Padgett, who worked for eight

years downwind and has suffered severe health reactions, 350,000 cubic yards of chemical waste is still buried at the site under a 30-acre, eight-foot high cap.

Ladonna Williams, representing People for Children's Health and Environmental Justice,
reminded the crowd that experience has shown that vigilance is required, regardless of which agency has oversight. She recommended a direct appeal to CalEPA itself. “The reality is neither agency [DTSC or the Water Board] will adequately clean this site up or inform you about what’s really out here and how serious the real hazard is.”

KPFA radio covered the Friday demonstration, interviewing Sherry as well as Rick Alcaraz, who worked at the Field Station as a groundskeeper in the late 1960s. Rick reported that his job included burying more than a hundred of barrels of toxic waste at the UC Berkeley Richmond Field Station that had been produced at the Lawrence Lab.
Richmond resident, Dr. Jeff Reitterman, Cardiologist,
Richmond Kaiser
Actions organized by the RPA and its environmental allies have elevated the struggle, bringing it to the attention of local media and elected representatives. As reported in the Berkeley Daily Planet, Assemblywoman Loni Hancock was inspired by the grassroots battle over development at the Campus Bay site to develop legislation that changes the way that California handles hazardous waste sites.

On Tuesday, April 26, Hancock’s Assembly Bill 1360 passed out of committee with a 5-2 vote. On its way to legislative approval, the bill would create a new category of toxic waste site called a “public health priority site” whenever development of a day care center, residential housing, or a hospital is planned for land where hazardous waste has been stored.

Under the new legislation, such sites would fall under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), which currently has authority over cleanup of toxic sites where schools are to be built. Hancock said she created AB 1360 to prevent the practice of “forum shopping,” which permits a developer to select a less stringent agency to coordinate toxic cleanup.

To access the KPFA audio clip, click here: http://soula.org/-/zt.

To subscrvie to the Richmond Progressive Alliance Action Alert, email maliae@comcast.net.

RPA officer, Malia Everrete, with sons Ariel and Adonis