Richmond Shoreline Alliance

The Richmond Shoreline Alliance is an alliance of Richmond area residents, organizations, and allies dedicated to environmental justice, environmental protection, and an accessible and healthy Richmond shoreline now and for future generations.

Take Action!

Links to recordings and materials for two-day Sea Level Rise & Shoreline Contamination Regional Workshop in December 2021. Learn how Sea Level Rise increases the threats from contaminated sites around San Francisco Bay.

Email your comments to the Richmond City Council (see this Sample Letter ) or consider this one to Gov. Newsom to raise his awareness of the high risk of a Love Canal situation occurring in California under his watch.

See images from the August 30, 2021 rally by over 20 environmental justice groups against tactics used by CalEPA and DTSC to delay cleanups of hazardous waste sites.

Tips and Talking Points for public comment during Richmond City Council meetings.

Richmond City Council Agendas

Join Zoom meeting via computer or join the Zoom meeting via phone- (669) 900-6833

Meeting Id: 993 1220 5643# Passcode: ccmeeting

AstraZeneca

The RSA supports a full and complete removal of the hazardous waste from the AstraZeneca site on Richmond's southeast shoreline. To do anything less endangers the community's health, the environment, and the Bay. Any future development must wait until the site meets the highest residential standard for health and safety, allowing for the widest possible range of use now and in the future for this site.

To some this site is also known as the "Zeneca" site.

Point Molate

We support the Community Plan proposed by and for Richmond residents, which is far more equitable, economically prudent, and environmentally sensitive. The Community Plan would create a magnificent public waterfront park, preserve sacred sites on Ohlone ancestral land, and restore historic Winehaven Village as a commercial, educational and cultural destination, providing jobs for residents and revenue for the city.

Read more about Point Molate

Per the US-EPA the AstraZeneca site is a Superfund-qualified site. This means it "poses a threat to human and environmental health." A Superfund-qualified site is much, much worse than a "brownfield."

In December 2019 the lame duck Richmond City Council approved building up to 4,000 residences on the AstraZeneca site, after less than 2% of the extremely hazardous waste would be removed.

Please voice your support for removal of ALL the hazardous waste from the AstraZeneca site BEFORE housing is built there.

Review our collection of scientific data that supports our opposition to developing this site before a full cleanup is completed.

Here is basic info regarding the infamous example we don't want to follow: Love Canal, Niagara Falls, New York

In the News

NBC News: Groups Fight Over New Richmond Housing Project Near Contaminated Site

NPR: Near Coasts, Rising Seas Could Also Push Up Long-Buried Toxic Contamination

East Bay Express: Whose Richmond? New city council may re-examine development decisions

San Francisco Chronicle: Richmond sued over plan to develop site laden with pollutants

East Bay Times: Community groups sue Richmond for approving development on toxic site

KPIX 5: Debate Rages Over Solution For Richmond Toxic Chemical Site Planned For Development

Richmond Confidential: Debate Over Zeneca Development Continues

KPIX 5: Sea-level rise from climate change could exceed the high-end projections, scientists warn

Sunflower Alliance: Family Housing on a Toxic Dump? Just Say NO!

Letters from Leaders

Experts across the Bay have spoken out against this development. Read their concerns and urge the city council to heed their warnings.

Baykeeper "is alarmed by about the number of contaminants identified at the site by the Department of Toxic Substance Control, including PCBs, PAHs, VOCs, Mercury, Arsenic, and sulfuric acid."—Cole Burchiel

Citizens for East Shoreline Parks "There is no disagreement from any jurisdiction that this site is highly dangerous to health... Over 100 chemicals of concern are present, many of which are known as the “dirty dozen” that have been determined to cause cancer, reproductive damage and other serious health problems."—Shirley Dean

Contamination and Groundwater expert for CESP "[T]he significantly increased rate of sea level rise, as indicated in the most current estimates for sea level rise along the California coast, raises serious issues about the adequacy of the proposed remediation of the Project site under Alternative 3a in the Final FS/RAP."— Matt Hagemann

More Press

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AstraZeneca

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Remembering Ethel Dotson

Richmond, CA

AstraZeneca Site: Voices Unmuted

Located on the Richmond shoreline, this is a US-EPA Superfund qualified site, land on which toxic waste has been dumped without proper management. For close to twenty years, scientists, engineers, lawyers, environmentalists and community activists have been talking about the AstraZeneca, aka Zeneca, aka (the developers name) the Campus Bay, site. Most of the Richmond community wants the hazardous waste to be removed, via rail transport if possible, so the site can be cleaned up to the highest most health-protective residential standard. And that was the plan the City, local businesses, and community members had agreed to. However in Nov-Dec 2020 the Mayor of Richmond and the narrow majority of the City Council in place at that time choose to ignore the voice of the community.

Here is what the Richmond community wants to say about this site.

No homes on toxic dump

The AstraZeneca site on the Richmond southeast shoreline has been leaking highly contaminated water and vapors for decades, from the 550,000 cubic yards of hazardous material left behind after 100-years of chemical manufacturing on this shoreline site. Despite the known risks of sea level rise, liquefaction (which is more likely as sea level rise progresses), and health risks should any of the proposed “remedies” fail, the small majority of lame duck City Council members approved pouring concrete over most of the 86-acre site (but doing nothing about the toxics flowing underground onto neighboring properties and into the Bay), with up to 4,000 units in multi-story condos to be built on top of the mess.

The outgoing council gave no consideration to updated sea level rise data available from the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). They also failed to heed Cal EPA’s more health-protective vapor intrusion standards announced on February 14, 2020, which apply to the most dangerous and widespread contaminants on this site. In addition, the lame duck council members blatantly and arrogantly ignored the residential and business community’s near-unanimous 15-plus years of requests for a full and complete cleanup of this site before any person begins working or living on this site. The City’s extremely cumbersome and poorly executed public participation tools through Zoom have also called into question the City’s intent regarding public participation during this unprecedented COVID pandemic.

The community objected so strongly to the City’s railroading of this bad proposal, that in November a new City Council majority was voted in, who support working with the highly engaged community. However despite many requests that all remaining decisions be held until the new council was seated, the lame duck council members still pushed through additional decisions regarding the Campus Bay/Zeneca development proposal in December. Due to the gross judgement errors by those few council members, a lawsuit was filed on December 30, 2020 against the City of Richmond. Now your support is needed to help the new council members fight for a health-protective review, and reversal, of all those bad decisions.