Page 330 - Beyond Decommissioning

306 Beyond Decommissioning

report expands on generic factors applicable to almost any kind of land redevelop-
ment, namely:
l Health, Safety, and Environmental Impacts
l Economic Viability and Community Support
l Local Infrastructure and Resources
l Suitability of Site
l Restrictions Resulting from the Remediation and Institutional controls
Additionally, the report explores the following specific factors relevant to planning
and designing of golf courses:

l Course Configuration and Topography
l Golf Course Features
l Irrigation Systems
l Utilities
l Vegetation
Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitat
l
Vehicle and Pedestrian Traffic
l
The EPA’s experience proves that sites where remediation involves waste contain-
ment onsite are often suitable for recreational purposes such as a golf facility.
For example, the on-site containment of wastes typically requires vegetated-cover
systems, which can be made readily compatible with golf facilities. This report also
provides techniques for ensuring that containment or waste treatment methods can fit
golf facilities, while ensuring that sport activities do not jeopardize the effectiveness
of remediation works. Four case studies are included in the report.

7.3.6 Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, CA (San Francisco
Chronicle, 2015)

This 170-ha San Francisco shipyard was one of the most contaminated sites in the
United States. Established in 1946, it was the center of a federal program that included
a secret laboratory where experiments were carried out to assess the effects of radi-
ation on animals. Military equipment and ships contaminated by atomic tests were
kept at Hunters Point, and the premises were also contaminated with industrial oil,
pesticides, heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), organic compounds,
and asbestos.
Hunters Point was used by the Navy to decontaminate about 60 ships used in atom
bomb tests. One of those ships, the Independence, was damaged in two explosions at
Bikini Atoll and was still radioactive when she was brought to Hunters Point. The ship
was used as a nuclear waste store and decontamination lab until 1951, when the Navy
sunk her off the Farallon Islands, CA.
From 1955 to 1969, the Navy transferred the nuclear lab into the multistory, win-
dowless Building 815, which is now being decontaminated.
Upon request of the US EPA and the pressure of worried neighbors, the Navy was
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forced to disclose its secret operations onsite. Radionuclides, such as Ra ,Cs , and
90
Sr , were detected in several areas at the shipyard, including inside storm drains.