SFDPH outlines new community-centered approach to Hunters Point cleanup; residents press for stronger action

The San Francisco Department of Public Health presented an updated approach to the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard cleanup, outlining an interdisciplinary team, new communication tools and a renewed focus on community engagement while making clear the Navy remains the lead agency for cleanup.

Dr. Susan Phillip, SFDPH health officer and director of the population health division, told the Health Commission the department will act as a reviewer and community advocate rather than the lead cleanup authority, but that it will provide written technical comments and press regulators and the Navy to improve transparency and health protections. She named an expert team including environmental health and engineering leads and said SFDPH will produce parcel-by-parcel updates on a new website to make Navy and regulator materials more accessible to residents.

Deputy Director Asa King described efforts to re-center community voices: SFDPH has attended Community Advisory Committee and Navy briefings, launched a dedicated Hunters Point page with maps and parcel updates, joined interagency communications work groups, and plans standing community forums and listening sessions. King also said the department intends to convene external medical and environmental experts to consider additional assessments and actions and to submit technical comments on the Navy's five-year review.

Residents and local scientists said the steps fall short. Michael Lyon, speaking during public comment, accused the city of allowing profitable development at the expense of Black residents and urged an end to cooperation with developers. Dr. Sumchai, a former member of the Hunters Point Restoration Advisory Board and founder of a community biomonitoring program, said his team's testing has detected heavy metals and radioactive markers in residents and asked the department to reinstate a formal Restoration Advisory Board and to address ongoing exposures along the western fence line.

Commissioners pressed SFDPH on what it will do when community findings show remediation is inadequate. Dr. Phillip and Deputy Director King said SFDPH will: provide written technical comments on the Navy's five-year review; press regulators (EPA, DTSC, and the San Francisco Bay Water Board) and the Navy for clearer communications and responses; be in regular interagency meetings; and ensure community members can meaningfully review and respond to technical reports. They emphasized the department's role in elevating health-protective approaches and keeping community concerns central to regulator interactions.

No new regulatory authority or remediation plan was announced; SFDPH reiterated that the Navy is the lead federal agency for cleanup but said it will increase technical review and community engagement and report back to the commission on the five-year review and on interim findings.

The commission asked SFDPH to return with interim updates rather than waiting the full five years, and community groups reiterated calls to strengthen monitoring, reinstate advisory structures and take immediate protective actions where exposures are occurring.