Boxer wants to be shipyard clean-up’s “fair broker”

Pub date June 17, 2009
Writersfbg
SectionPolitics Blog

Text by Sarah Phelan

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Sen. Barbara Boxer’s office forwarded me a letter yesterday that highlights Boxer’s concerns regarding the cleanup and redevelopment of Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.

“As Chair of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works committee, I am focused on protecting the health and environment of the Bay Area, including the Bayview Hunters Point community,” Boxer stated in the May 18, 2009 letter that she sent to Power’s Alicia Schwartz, who, incidentally won a Guardian’s Local Hero award in 2008, for working to improve the future of San Francisco’s black and working class communities.

Boxer’s letter landed after my deadline for this week’s story about the Navy dissolving the main body for community involvement in the shipyard clean-up, as that effort enters its most critical phase.

So, I’ve included her letter here, so folks can see what Boxer’s main concerns are. And also because it suggests that things may improve, at least in terms of working with the US Environmental Protection Agency, now that Lisa Jackson has taken the helm.

As Boxer writes, “Under Administrator Lisa Jackson, the EPA is returning to its mission of protecting American families and communities from environmental threats.”

Boxer’s communications director Zachary Coile told me today that as chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Boxer has oversight of the US EPA, and wants to play the role of “fair broker” at the shipyard.
That sounds like a worthy goal. So, here’s hoping that Boxer can pull it off in a way that’s truly equitable.