San Francisco Examiner

June 17th, 2003

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Power play by plant protesters

BY TIFFANY MALESHEFSKI
Of The Examiner Staff

Saying that they smell a smokescreen, Bayview-Hunters Point residents rallied last week to push "racist" polluters out of their backyards.

Approximately 50 residents and community activists rallied Wednesday at the entrance to the Hunters Point power plant and applauded a civil-rights complaint recently filed against the plant's operator, Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

A number of organizations filed the complaint with the U.S. Department of Energy, alleging that PG&E had practiced "environmental racism" upon the predominantly African American neighborhood of the Bayview-Hunters Point.

The complaint also names the California Independent Service Operator, the state agency charged with overseeing the transmission of electricity, as a violator of the Civil Rights Act as well.

"We're sick and tired of being sick and tired," said Marie Harrison, a member of the environmental group Greenaction and longtime activist in the neighborhood.

The recent complaint was filed in reaction to a request by PG&E to secure $15 million in federal funds to retrofit the outdated plant, which overlooks hundreds of public-housing units. That request goes against the company's earlier promise to phase out and close the plant, not improve it, according to the complaint.

The complaint charges that PG&E's request for federal dollars violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits federal funding of those programs or activities that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

The parties that filed the complaint contend that PG&E is discriminating against the Bayview-Hunters Point community by putting off the date of the plant's closure.

Many of the people who gathered to condemn the power plant live in the nearby housing developments. Community members attribute the area's high asthma rates -- among the highest in the country -- to the plant's emissions, according to the complaint.

Wearing an oversized pin on her shirt that displayed a snapshot of her grandson, Cati Hawkins-Okorie called for a halt to what she described as environmental racism.

Three years ago, on the day before Christmas, Okorie's 12-year-old grandson collapsed on the floor of his home in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. He had suffered from intense asthma his entire life, according to Okorie, a malady she believed is connected to his home's close proximity to the power plant.

"We are constantly breathing this nasty air. We get nosebleeds and headaches," said Tessie Ester, president of the Hunter's View Tenants Association. Ester's bedroom window faces the fossil-fuel-burning plant.

Residents also complained that the timeline most recently presented to them, which showed when the power plant would be closed, was out of step with the original plan.

The Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance in May 2001 that made 2005 the goal in finding enough power-generating alternatives to allow the Hunters Point power plant to be closed down.

Earlier this year, that goal seemed closer after The City earned $16.3 million in state funds to finance green-energy resources.

But PG&E's recent funding request to retrofit the power plant has left residents wondering if the energy giant was backing down on its earlier promises.

"We are very tired of PG&E and Cal ISO lying about the shut down of this plant," said Lynne Brown, a member of Communities for a Better Environment.

PG&E says it is just trying to comply with local air quality laws.

The retrofit is required to keep the plant's air emissions within standards mandated by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, said PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno.

Moreno said that the agreement between The City and PG&E regarding the eventual shutdown of the plant has yet to be determined, and that the 2005 target date for closure is incorrect.

The plant's closure is at the will of Cal ISO, said Moreno, who added that Cal ISO is the only agency that can determine when San Francisco is generating enough alternative energy to close down the Hunters Point power plant.

But, Moreno said, even if San Francisco does meet its target date of 2005, the plant still needs retrofitting now.

"Two of the four generating units out there have already been shut down," Moreno said. "In the meantime, the plant is needed to keep the lights on in San Francisco."