Furious leaders question why they weren’t warned over dangerous levels of radiation detected at former San Francisco naval shipyard
San Francisco officials are demanding answers after learning that dangerous levels of radiation were detected at the city’s former naval shipyard nearly a year ago – but that no one told them until now.
Air filters at the decommissioned Hunters Point Naval Shipyard revealed plutonium contamination in November 2024.
It means the radiation levels are more than twice the Environmental Protection Agency’s ‘action level,’ the threshold requiring immediate safety steps.
In a blistering letter sent to the US Navy, San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip accused federal officials of failing to alert the city after the health department only learned about the plutonium last month, nearly a year after it was first detected.
‘The City and County of San Francisco is deeply concerned by both the magnitude of this exceedance and the failure to provide timely notification,’ Dr. Philip wrote in the letter obtained by Mission Local.
‘Such a delay undermines our ability to safeguard public health and maintain transparency. Immediate notification is a regulatory requirement and is critical for ensuring community trust and safety.’
According to Dr. Philip, the contamination was discovered when workers grinding asphalt during field operations captured plutonium particles in an air filter.
The revelation has sparked anger and fear in a city long haunted by the toxic legacy of the Hunters Point site – once a major naval repair facility and radiation testing ground during World War II and the Cold War.
The base was shuttered in 1974 yet decades later, cleanup efforts have been dogged by scandal, falsified soil tests, and persistent health concerns among nearby residents.
San Francisco officials are demanding answers after learning dangerous levels of plutonium were detected at the city’s former naval shipyard nearly a year ago but nothing was said
The San Francisco Health Department has accused federal officials of failing to alert the city after air filters at the decommissioned Hunters Point Naval Shipyard revealed plutonium contamination in November 2024
Concerns now surround the radioactive isotope Pu-239 – with a half-life of more than 24,000 years – that can emit radiation for millennia and is among the most hazardous materials handled by the US military.
‘Plutonium exposure can be dangerous because its half-life is so long,’ Philip wrote, warning that even small airborne particles can pose risks if inhaled or ingested.
Health experts say the discovery in an air filter is particularly alarming.
‘One of the ways people can ingest plutonium is through breathing it in,’ said Dr. Matt Willis, a public health physician and epidemiologist, in an interview with SFGate.
‘And in that case, it would lodge in the airways and can stay there for years and emit radioactive particles that, over time, can contribute to lung cancer risk. That’s the worst-case scenario.’
Dr. Philip is furious at the delay to inform the city’s Department of Public Health.
Officials say they have not yet received a clear explanation from the Navy as to why the information was withheld.
‘The failure to alert us promptly meant the city could not take necessary measures to protect workers and surrounding communities,’ Philip wrote.
The radiation levels at Hunter’s Point are more than twice the Environmental Protection Agency’s ‘action level,’ the threshold requiring immediate safety steps
The Hunter’s Point site was once a major naval repair facility and radiation testing ground during World War II and the Cold War. It was finally shuttered in 1974
Nearby residents to Hunters Point have complained for years of elevated cancer rates and mysterious illnesses, claiming radioactive materials have seeped into the air and groundwater
The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard has long been at the center of environmental controversy.
The site, once used for decontaminating ships exposed to nuclear testing, became so polluted that it was placed on the EPA’s Superfund list in 1989.
While part of the area, known as Parcel A, was transferred to the city in 2004 for residential development, other sections, including Parcel C, remain under Navy control. That is where the plutonium was detected last year.
Although the area is not open to the public, the incident has reignited fears that contamination may extend beyond fenced-off zones.
Nearby residents have complained for years of elevated cancer rates and mysterious illnesses, claiming that radioactive materials have seeped into the air and groundwater.
In 2018, a federal review confirmed that portions of the site had been fraudulently cleared as safe by contractors hired by the Navy prompting a massive re-testing effort that continues today.
