A new report from a federal agency supports recent findings by state and local public health professionals that grading operations at a construction site pose no significant long-term health threats to residents in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood.
Federal regulators also concluded in their report issued yesterday that medical testing of residents is unwarranted. The report was issued by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and included substantial input from the California Department of Health. “…exposure to the levels of asbestos measured around this excavation was estimated to have risks that, on a personal level, would be considered low,” the report concluded. ATSDR recognized that the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) “have taken many steps to protect the public” in regulating construction at the construction site.
The findings are in response to concerns raised by some that grading on a hill overlooking the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard known as Parcel A had created dust that contained naturally occurring asbestos. The asbestos is part of the serpentine rock underlying the construction site. Serpentine rock is the state rock and is found in 50 of California’s 58 counties.
Extensive analysis has been conducted by the San Francisco and California Departments of Health, the BAAQMD, an independent environmental consulting firm and Dr. John Balmes, Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco and one of the nation’s foremost physicians studying air-borne pollutants. All of these public health professionals have concluded that the long-term health risks posed to local residents from exposure to naturally occurring asbestos in dust is low. “I agree with DPH that it is highly unlikely that exposure to naturally occurring asbestos from grading operations at Parcel A will create a significant risk to human health in the community,” Dr. Balmes concluded in a separate analysis he recently submitted to community leaders.
Following are among the observations from public health professionals who have studied the site.
“The Bayview-Hunters Point community has experienced more than its share of health problems, such as high rates of asthma in children, and calls for environmental justice for the community need to be heard,” Dr. Balmes said. “However, these health concerns predate Lennar’s construction activities and involve symptoms that are not associated with exposure to naturally occurring asbestos. My concern is that incorrectly attributing health concerns to naturally occurring asbestos will hide the path to finding real solutions.” In addition to his role as a Professor of Medicine at UCSF, Dr. Balmes is Chief of the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital, where he regularly treats patients from Bayview Hunters Point. Dr. Balmes has been working with the African American Community Revitalization Consortium to provide the organization with assistance in understanding the health issue related to the construction site. At the Consortium’s request, Lennar Urban, the construction site’s developer, took responsibility for Dr. Balmes’ expenses and fees.
Several regulatory agencies also studied Parcel A for chemicals prior to the initiation of grading. Their findings concluded that the site was safe for unrestricted residential use. “That means you can live, play and work on the land as it currently is without concern for your health,” according to a DPH document. DPH does not recommend special medical examinations beyond regular checkups because it does not believe the construction activity is dangerous to public health.
Additionally, Lennar Urban, in cooperation with the city’s DPH and BAAQMD, has implemented an Asbestos Dust Mitigation Plan that goes beyond minimum regulatory requirements. The company also has voluntarily set up air monitors at the edge of the site and in the adjacent community. The ATSDR report provided recommendations, some of which Lennar has already voluntarily implemented, for further improving monitoring, reducing dust, and improving the timeliness of reporting.
“I want to thank the ATSDR and state health officials for their recent report,” said Kofi Bonner, President of Lennar Urban’s Bay Area operations. “They have made several thoughtful recommendations, and we look forward to examining them in greater detail as part of our ongoing commitment to protect the community’s health and safety.”