San Diego Bay: What's new in the massive cleanup?

fisherman san diego bayFor three decades, toxins sat in the sediment at the bottom of San Diego Bay, a legacy of poor practices at the shipyards of yesteryear.

What was once a thriving ecosystem went dead.

Even after the Regional Water Quality Control Board ordered a cleanup, San Diego Coastkeeper and its allies spent years advocating for a plan that would protect both the environment and the communities through which the toxic waste would be hauled. Finally, in 2013, the cleanup began with the dredging of the southernmost of two sites.

Legal battles among the responsible parties has prevented cleanup of the northern site. On July 22, 2014, the San Diego City Council approved funds for a portion of the cleanup so that it could begin.

Thank you City of San Diego. We’re pleased to see the City following through on its obligations to clean San Diego Bay, and we hope that remediation activities will now begin. We attended the council meeting when the council approved the funds so that we could give them our “attaboy.” We wanted to let them know that we are watching and urge that no further obstacle stand in the way of a complete cleanup, as ordered by the Regional Board.

Our bay provides sustenance, recreation and industry. It deserves nothing less.