Alarmingly high levels of plutonium-239 have been detected at the long troubled former Hunters Point Shipyard, prompting the San Francisco Department of Public Health to warn community groups about the contamination threat and press the U.S. Navy for answers about its ongoing cleanup of radioactive elements on the site.
The Navy operated at the shipyard from 1945 to 1974 and is responsible for cleaning the 500-acre shipyard on the southeastern edge of San Francisco in order to unlock the Superfund site for its long-planned redevelopment into a mixed-use neighborhood. For 11 months, the federal agency failed to notify the city’s Health Department about air samples that showed elevated levels of plutonium-239, according to a notice the department sent to Bayview Hunters Point community stakeholders Thursday, which the Chronicle obtained.
Plutonium 239 is one of the primary fuels used in nuclear weapons, and is most dangerous when breathed in as dust — the contaminant can cause lung disease and cancer. According to the notice, the Health Department was informed by the Navy this month that an air sample collected nearly a year ago — in November 2024 — detected “airborne plutonium” at a level twice exceeding the established “action level,” a threshold that triggers further investigation and requires the Navy to put protective measures in place. The sample was taken from a stretch of the Shipyard known as “Parcel C.”…