At a public meeting held July 15 in San Francisco, Bayview residents and supporters accused the San Francisco Department of Public Health of turning a blind eye to Lennar Corp's toxic construction in the Hunter's Point Shipyard. Bayview community members said Lennar Corp, a housing redevelopment corporation based out of Miami, has been digging into asbestos-rich serpentine rock sending plumes of cancer-causing dust into nearby homes, recreation centers and elementary schools.
Photos

Last November, The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) voted to fine Lennar for not accurately monitoring toxicity levels during construction.

California state law requires Lennar to monitor the toxicity of the air and inform residents when asbestos or other carcinogens reach a poisonous level. However, May 30, when asbestos meters sky-rocketed to 138,000 levels of particulate matter, community members were kept in the dark. Bayview advocates say the release far exceeded levels deemed lethal, even by the city's lenient standards, the Environmental Protection Agency reports that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.
Bayview residents were not informed of this until more than six weeks later on July 14th.

The toxic reading came just days before the June 3 election, when a heated battle was taking place over Prop F, a grassroots proposition that would have forced Lennar to create affordable housing; and Prop G, an initiative that would grant Lennar permission to proceed with the construction of 10,000 condominiums on the Shipyard, a Superfund site.
"Such an overage should have triggered a complete removal of those most sensitive receptors which would have been our children..." noted Bayview resident Marie Harrison of Green Action, an environmental justice organization, as she addressed the commissioners.

Read More | Recent Related Posts From Francisco Da Costa: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15

Will Lennar ever be fined for dropping the dust ball? | Test the Lennar site: There is no safe level for asbestos exposure | Lennar slapped with racial discrimination lawsuit, accused of violating toxic asbestos cleanup restrictions

Previous Indybay Coverage