An already contaminated San Francisco shipyard now has a new twist: Investigators say a former employee of a Navy subcontractor allegedly slipped uranium, thorium, and other hazardous materials onto the site without anyone in charge noticing. The Navy says about 200 radiological items and 70 jars of chemicals, including sulfuric acid, were discovered in April in a locked cabinet inside Building 400A at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, a Superfund cleanup site, SFGate reports. "It was a rogue situation by a rogue employee," said Jeff Bale of RSI Entech, the Navy subcontractor now overseeing remediation.
Bale said many of the items were "check sources," small samples of uranium or thorium that are used to calibrate equipment. Navy officials say preliminary checks show "no health or environmental concern" and that the area is now secured and under radiological control, but that did little to calm a tense citizens advisory meeting this week. Residents and committee members questioned how the materials could sit there for years—believed to be between 2019 and 2022—without detection, and why RSI Entech remains in charge.
The former employee, previously with Envirachem before its 2023 acquisition by RSI Entech, is under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the EPA's Criminal Investigation Division. Citizens advisory committee Malik Seneferu tells SFGate that he hoped for more "clarity" from officials at Monday's meeting. "One thing about the Navy is they've never had too much respect for civilians," he says. "So trying to get information out of the Navy is like trying to get water out of a stone." This is the latest in a long line of controversies at the site. San Francisco plans to redevelop the area with 10,000 housing units and waterfront commercial districts, the Guardian reports.
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