On the Path to the Blue Greenway
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a grant award of $600,000 for brownfields assessment and green job training in the Bayview and Hunters Point neighborhoods. These assessments are a key step in the cleanup of contaminated sites and the development of green open space along the proposed route of the Blue Greenway, a 13-mile waterfront corridor that will run along the city’s southeastern shoreline. The green job training funds will help to ensure that local residents are prepared for the jobs that cleanup and development will entail.
SF Environment will begin work with partner agencies and community members in Bayview Hunters Point to assess and promote cleanup and development of land along the proposed route of the Blue Greenway.
Bayview Hunters Point and surrounding areas in the Southeast side of the city are heavily impacted by multiple pollution sources – ranging from the U.S. Naval Shipyard at Hunters Point, a federally listed Superfund site, to more than 150 brownfield sites – where industrial operations or illegal dumping may have released toxic substances and petroleum chemicals into the soils. These neighborhoods also lack access to open space where residents can play, exercise, garden or enjoy nature. With support from a federal grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), SF Environment will evaluate and prepare cleanup plans for several brownfield sites – in support of local efforts to build the Blue Greenway.
To ensure that the local workforce is trained and can access the jobs that result from assessment and cleanup efforts, the EPA has also awarded a community-based organization, Hunters Point Family, with funds to train residents in hazardous waste remediation.
Thank you to the EPA for this generous grant which will open new possibilities for job creation and green space in the Bayview.
About the Blue Greenway
The Blue Greenway is an open space waterfront corridor, extending from SF Giants’ ATT Park southward along the City’s eastern shoreline into Bayview Hunters Point, to Candlestick Park. It is part of the region’s Bay Trail, which provides a continuous 45-mile walking and biking trail around San Francisco Bay. The trail will serve as a connector between the southeastern neighborhoods and downtown, and it will provide much-needed open space for recreation in Bayview Hunters Point.
Learn more and get involved with the Blue Greenway:
Community Activities in the Bayview
Enjoy Bayview’s waterfront today by participating in community activities:
- Literacy for Environmental Justice - Volunteer for park restoration work days
- California Coastal Cleanup - Volunteer on Sept. 15, 2012
- Quesada Gardens - Volunteer for a garden work day
- Bayview Hunters Point YMCA - Join an exercise class or group walk
- SF Bicycle Coalition - Join a bike trip
