SFUSD Speak-out: Protect our Children from Contamination and Cancer

1/28 SFUSD Speak-out: Protect our Children from Contamination and Cancer—we must not build schools on Treasure Island
Public Comment For Upcoming San Francisco School Board Meeting
Tuesday January 28, 2020 6:00 PM
San Francisco Unified School District
555 Franklin St. San Francisco
Protect our Children from Contamination and Cancer—we must not build schools on Treasure Island


My name is Dr. Nayvin Gordon. I am a board Certified Family Medicine Physician who has worked in California for 40 years.

It is no secret that the Navy contaminated Treasure Island with nuclear radiation for decades. Based on the extent of radiation contamination already discovered, the entire island must be assumed to be contaminated. The world has long known about the dangers of radiation. Some examples are: death and cancer from the nuclear bombs exploded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the mutations and growth defects of babies born to women who were given x- rays when pregnant; the high cancer rate in nuclear plant workers; the deaths and cancers after the nuclear plant Chernobyl explosion.



Radiation, even at very low levels, causes genetic mutation, growth defects, leukemia and cancers. Radiation is dangerous to life, especially to children and pregnant women who are more sensitive to radiation damage.

Since 1980 the incidence of cancer in children has been increasing at 3% every year. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10379458 The Center for Disease Control (CDC) documents a steady rise in childhood leukemia and brain cancer from 1999 through 2010. Our children do not need more radiation in their environment.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists reported Treasure Island cleanup exposes Navy’s mishandling of its nuclear past - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists


Treasure Island cleanup exposes Navy’s mishandling of its nuclear past -...
For decades before it was selected for closure, the Treasure Island Naval Station in San Francisco Bay overhaule...


that in 2014, “Ronald Pilorin , chief of the State Public Health Department’s Emergency, Restoration and Waste Management Section, has escalated his agency’s campaign to make the Navy come clean about its radioactive past.” There had been “no credible effort made to gather evidence to determine whether those radioactive materials were present or not.”
A precautionary approach to our children’s health and well being must be as follows. We must be absolutely certain that the entire island, every square foot, is free of all contamination performed. The testing must be done by an independent and reputable organization with transparent public results.

Until then, no schools for children should be built on Treasure Island.


Thank you,

Dr. Nayvin Gordon, 1/20/20

gordonnayvin(at)yahoo.com



2/5 Speak-Out Against Another Charter School on Radioactive SF Treasure Island-Stop Poisoning The Students, Teachers & Staff
Wednesday, Feb 5 at 1 PM
San Francisco City Hall Rm 400

Join United Public Workers For Action UPWA, Defend Public Education NOW! and other community members and trade unionists protesting the decision of London Breed’s Treasure Island Development Authority Board to approve a charter at the radioactive contaminated Treasure Island. There has been a decades-long cover-up of the dangers at the Island that continues today. Tetra Tech radiation health and safety inspectors were illegally fired and bullied after reporting the falsification of testing and dangerous radioactive materials on the island. This radioactive material still exists on the island and is a threat to health and safety. This is a super-fund site that has not been cleaned up despite the efforts of agencies like SFUSD, DPH, and TIDA to declare that this site and Hunters Point is safe.
This charter school which they now say they want to open up on a closed public school is a serious danger to the lives of the students, faculty and. staff. It had previously been shut down by SFUSD because of serious and deadly health and safety issues for the students, staff, and teachers. The conditions at the public school when it was operating will also be reported on at the press conference.

Despite calls by UPWA and others about these dangers, there continues to be another charter on the Island. Speakers will report on the highly dangerous site and the systemic cover-up of the radioactive dangers including to residents of the island and how this is a threat to any potential students at this charter, the other charter and the lack of protection for the residents and tenants at the island.


Initiated by United Public Workers For Action
For more information
info [at] upwa.info
Endorsed by
Defend Public Education NOW!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1779211105630359/


SF Treasure Island Public School Closed in 2005 Due High Levels Of Contamination?

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-military-legacy/

Beneath the elementary schoolyard, which operated until 2005, the Navy found high levels of lead, dioxins, motor oil pollutants and benzo(a)anthracene, a carcinogenic chemical.

In one sample, the lead concentration was measured at levels 22 times above field screening guidelines. Another sample showed concentrations of DDT 31 times above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s limit.

The Navy said its landlord disclosed the contamination and maintained there was no health threat. Still, residents were advised not to garden or otherwise disturb the soil.

In 2000, the Navy sent California regulators a soil analysis that showed “chemicals of concern” in some backyards. The state warned residents to avoid tracking dirt inside. “If you have children or pets we strongly advise you not to allow them to enter the backyard,” the state wrote.


SF Mayor London Breed’s Push For More Charters: Radioactive Treasure Island Dumpsite could get another charter school say SFUSD Former elementary school site among several being considered by SFUSD to accommodate requests

TIDA board member Linda Richardson said that “I am pro charter school. I think it is very great to have alternative schools.”


A charter school may be housed on the site of the former Treasure Island Elementary School. The San Francisco Unified School District plans to eventually build a new public school on the island to accommodate new development there. (Courtesy Google Maps)
Radioactive Contaminate Dump Site Treasure Island could get another charter school say SFUSD
Former elementary school site among several being considered by SFUSD to accommodate requests

https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/treasure-island-could-get-another-charter-school/

JOSHUA SABATINI
Jan. 11, 2020 5:30 p.m.NEWS
San Francisco may temporarily locate a charter school on Treasure Island at a former elementary school site.

The proposal was briefly discussed last week by the Treasure Island Development Authority Board of Directors but the board could vote on a lease as early as next month.

“We’ve been approached by the [San Francisco Unified] School District about potentially locating an additional charter school program on the island next year,” Bob Beck, Treasure Island Director, told the board on Jan. 8. “We anticipate bringing that lease to you in February.”

There were few details provided about the proposal for the 2020-2021 school year.

“They don’t need the entirety of the elementary school site but would need a portion of it as well as a portion of the playground,” Beck said. “We are working on a lease agreement with them.”

He added that the school district has “a number of applications next year for new charter school programs and this is one of many sites they are looking at to potentially house new charter school programs.”

School district spokesperson Laura Dudnick told the San Francisco Examiner on Friday that “our Facilities Department is working with TIDA to make that space available for school use.”

Dudnick said, “that capacity could be offered to a charter school, but no offer has been made at this time.”

She noted that “under Proposition 39, charter schools may request classroom and support space sufficient to accommodate the attendance of all the charter school’s students who reside in that school district.”

Beck told the board that he expects to present them with a lease agreement with the school district to consider next month and will ask the school district to provide more details at the board’s March meeting, which will take place in the auditorium of the elementary school.

School district officials were aware of the site since they had operated an elementary school there from the 1960s until its closure in 2005. The 7.5-acre site includes several buildings comprising approximately 50,000 square feet.

Beck also provided an update on the ultimate plans for the site, which are included as part of the island’s overall development agreement. The man-made island is currently undergoing a massive redevelopment for 8,000 new homes.

The development agreement calls for Treasure Island Community Development to provide a $5 million subsidy to help the school district refurbish the site for either a K-5 or a K-8 school.

The timeline under the agreement calls for the school to be rehabbed prior to the issuance of a building permit to build the 2,500th residential unit.

Beck estimated that “could happen as early as 2024.”

TIDA board member Linda Richardson said that “I am pro-charter school. I think it is very great to have alternative schools.”

TIDA board member Sharon Lai supported the idea of having interim uses of facilities but expressed concern about the need to have to relocate the charter after three to four years.

“Next month though I’d be very curious to hear about the plan for relocation,” she said. “Obviously we don’t want to get in a situation where the public elementary school needs to come in but then the charter school may not have found an appropriate location to relocate. As we all know there are scarce opportunities on the mainland to have new schools.”

The charter would be in addition to the other charter school currently operating on the island, the Life Learning Academy.

Sherry Williams, executive director of One Treasure Island, formerly known as the Treasure Island Homeless Development Initiative, suggested any lease include some benefit for existing residents such as a community space, programs or services.

“Because there are facilities there currently that are not open to the community that would be an incredible asset to the residents of the island,” Williams said.


jsabatini [at] sfexaminer.com



"No Charter School On SF Treasure Island Superfund Site!" Environmentalists/Candidates Speakout
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCvWcgx7_qI

Environmentalists and San Francisco political candidates spoke out at a press conference on October 25, 2019, at the Life Learning Academy charter school in San Francisco Treasure Island to warn of serious dangers to the health and safety of the students and staff. The privately run publicly funded charter school is one of the most heavily radioactive dumpsites in the United States and was previously certified as a Superfund site.
Speakers included:
Francisco Da costa Director of Environmental Justice Advocacy
Joel Ventresca, Candidate For San Francisco Mayor
Steve Zeltzer United Public Workers For Action
Bob Coleman, Candidate For SFUSD Board of Education, Lawyer, Artist & Editor

They talked about the lack of any health and safety oversight The students and staff have been contaminated by radioactive contaminants, massive amounts of peeling lead paint which is only a short distance from the school and uncovered removal of contaminated Treasure Island earth next to the school without any coverage of the soil for protection.
They also discussed the systemic corruption of San Francisco and California politicians including Governor Gavin Newsom, Congresswomen Nancy Pelosi, Senator Diane Feinstein and San Francisco Mayor London Breed who have all been aware of the dangerous contaminants on the island. The supposed $1 billion “clean-up” by Tetra Tech and Test America of San Francisco's Treasure Island along with Hunters Point was found to be fraudulent and faked by these companies.
Tetra Tech presently has two managers in prison for coercing Tetra Tech workers to falsify information at the testing at Hunters Point. Tetra Tech along with the Navy has publicly argued that the Island is now “safe”. Participants in the press conference will discuss the continued health and safety dangers including at the charter school Life Learning Academy where young students have been subject to contamination from the shipyard radioactivity and the toxins being released in the present redevelopment plans.
Mayor London Breed, Governor Gavin Newsom, Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and Nancy Pelosi have all been involved in support of the development of Treasure Island along with Hunters Point Shipyard and are aware of a growing number of residents and workers who have become sickened with cancer and other illnesses caused from contamination. Tetra Tech and Test America Whistleblowers who protested the failure to properly clean up the shipyard have also been bullied and fired.
Cal-OSHA other state agencies along with Federal OSHA at present has also refused to do any investigation of the health and safety problems for workers, residents, and students despite their legal responsibilities at this Superfund site. They have also refused to investigate the illegal retaliation of Tetra Tech whistleblowers. This will also be illuminated at the press conference.

The California Department of Education which has oversight of this charter school has also failed to investigate the dangers to the students as a result of the serious health and safety problems at the charter school which is funded by public funds from the SFUSD.
Under CA proposition 39 funded and written by Netflix billionaire Reed Hastings, charter schools are exempted from the Field Act which prevents public schools from being built in toxic dumps or superfund sites which is what Treasure Island is.

Additional media:
What politicians, the Navy and the EPA don’t want you to know: Treasure Island and Hunters Point are equally toxic Superfund sites
https://sfbayview.com/2018/10/what-politicians-the-navy-and-the-epa-dont-want-you-to-know-treasure-island-and-hunters-point-are-equally-toxic-superfund-sites/
"Not A Whisper" Questions Not Asked At Newsom Cox 2018 CA Gubernatorial Debate At KQED
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXCXWV7Kfkk&t=41s
Media silent as Navy digs 1,280 radiological objects from Treasure Island
https://sfbayview.com/2018/10/media-silent-as-navy-digs-1280-radiological-objects-from-treasure-island/
Treasure Island H& Whistleblowers, Former TI Residents & Advocates Speak Out On Cover-up
https://youtu.be/rtuDlkvWJO8
SF Hunters Point/Treasure Island Radiation Whistleblower Speaks Out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htA8lqYc96Q
Navy altered SF Hunters Point cleanup to cover, not remove, toxic soil
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Report-Navy-altered-Hunters-Point-cleanup-to-14302320.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20&utm_source=share-by-email&utm_medium=email
San Francisco irradiates the poor on Treasure Island
https://sfbayview.com/2019/01/san-francisco-irradiates-the-poor-on-treasure-island/
Production of Labor Video Project
http://www.laborvideo.org