ISLAIS CREEK BRIDGE THE PURVEYOR OF POLLUTION (11/22/06)

Islais Creek was once area where you could sit by the shoreline and watch nature the little that was left after years of development around this little area- an oasis one of kind. During the Herring Season I used to watch the Seals and the Seagulls and the other birds perform a ritual one of kind. It was nice on a Full Moon night to sit by the creek and watch nature. Islais Creek was perhaps the only area small boats could dock their boats and be free and for free. Soon Islais Creek will open to traffic and with millions of vehicles plying on this brand new bridge - it will have the singular privilege of being the purveyor of the worst pollution in San Francisco. Few will remember the Muwekma Ohlone Park and Sanctuary that this bridge will shadow and which it has destroyed by denying it access to clean air and light. Prior to that we had the Force Main episode - another historical mishap that the Board of Supervisors, the Mayor, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, MUNI, the Department of Public Works and others all want to forget. Not to mention the inept San Francisco Port Authority that had no idea and still has no idea what the Burton Act stands for or what really the Public Trust Act stands to accomplish. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and MUNI chose the site next to the bridge to tunnel 3 conduits. No soil assessment was done and foolishness compromised the Force Main which carried eighty percent of the City's secondary effluents and a hundred percent from Daly City, Brisbane, Burlingame and Brisbane. Millions of gallons of half-treated sewage polluted a large area and with this pollution came the destruction of the Muwekma Ohlone Park and Sanctuary and of course its lasting pollution. Further up the creek the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) saw nothing wrong releasing half-treated sewage into Islais Creek. The three conduits are no longer workable they lie some where underground, clogged, plugged, and a white elephant. They were meant to carry transmission lines a loss of over $15 million of tax payers' money. These three submerged conduits stand testimony to the Board of Supervisors, the City Attorney, and the parties that initiated this fiasco that the City and County of San Francisco does not want to discuss in public. Especially, Bevin Dufty, Aaron Peskin, and Sophie Maxwell three very inept and arrogant Supervisors. These three idiots did all in their power to cover this project and the mishap arising from this project - that will come to haunt them soon Shimmick and Homer and I may have got their name wrong took the challenge to build this bridge that most San Franciscans know little about. In building this bridge further damage was done to the Force Main that carries the sewage center of Pier 80 and into the Bay. More damage was done to the Force Main but SFPUC and the Mayor really do not care about the pollution and leakage. Each drastic release of secondary effluents more half treated sewage into the Bay - pollutes life in the Bay. Most of the traffic that now plies on 3rd Street will now ply on the brand new Islais Creek Bridge that I have been calling the Illinois Bridge some times because it will land on Illinois Street and head straight for the area around AT&T Park mingling with the traffic that heads for down town San Francisco. The new Islais Creek Bridge performs like the other bridge that stands a few hundred feet - it is a draw bridge not as unique as the old bridge but a draw bridge all the same to permit some ship or large boat that may want to pass by and venture deep into the other side of Islais Creek. Soon, by Pier Eighty MUNI will be building the Metro East Facility. This facility will bring in more pollution to the area. Next, to the Metro East Facility as if by evil design the SFPUC is placing three Combustion Turbines. These three Combustion Turbines will spew the worst toxic particulates. These particulates kill and are the worst of the worst particulates - so tiny and invisible to the naked eye. We call ourselves the Green City but yet our actions on many projects betray our ignorance. One area where we will be the PURVEYOR of pollution is this area around Pier Eighty. The three Combustion Turbines, the MUNI Metro East Facility, the millions of vehicles that will ply on the brand new Islais Creek Bridge and with that - flood the area and beyond with the worst type of particulates. San Francisco brags that we have the Precautionary Principle on our books. We brag that this Ordinance is there to help San Franciscans and NOT put innocent constituents in harms way. How ever everything we are doing in and around Pier Eighty points in the opposite direction. When will be stop killing innocent children? When will we learn NOT to pollute if we can help it? When will our leaders learn to walk the walk and less talk the talk?

On what was once Toxic Park.

Metro East Facility costing millions.

The MUNI Metro East Facility.

The Islais Creek Bridge land on Illinois Street.

The old draw bridge on 3rd and Cargo.

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