Facing suspension of federal food assistance benefits next week, Bay Area nonprofit distributors are bracing for a surge in demand. Grassroots programs fill a critical niche in the region’s food security system.
Author Archives: Audrey Mei Yi Brown
Audrey Mei Yi Brown (they/them) is a Report for America corps member and covers environmental equity for the San Francisco Public Press. Previously, they were a contributing editor at KneeDeep Times and worked at the San Francisco Chronicle on SFNext, a civic engagement initiative, where they covered a range of city issues spanning homelessness, digital inequity and downtown recovery. Audrey is a 2022 graduate of Columbia Journalism School. They grew up in San Francisco and still call the city home.
Posted inEnvironment
Oakland Bioremediation Experiment Could Offer Cheaper, Safer Toxic Cleanup
A West Oakland project aims to test a remediation method that uses plants and fungi to remove or break down contaminants in soil. The experiment would remediate a former auto-wrecking yard and its techniques might be cheaper and safer than the typical method of digging up polluted soil and moving it to a specialized landfill.
Posted inCommunity, Environment, Health
New Air Quality Monitoring App Aims to Protect Students in Polluted Bay Area Communities
A new app aims to provide school administrators and teachers in these communities with real-time data that can help them protect students from harmful air pollution. When air quality is especially poor, teachers might keep kids inside during recess or a coach might cancel or move a sports team practice, said Kristina Hill, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Hill developed the tool in collaboration with Charisma Acey, also an associate professor at UC Berkeley, and a focus group of advocates from five Bay Area communities with high levels of air pollution.
The app offers an interactive map where Bay Area residents can see hourly readings of the air quality in their area. It draws on the existing PurpleAir monitor network but adds key improvements like correcting for errors caused by fog and combining data from multiple monitors to paint a clearer picture of air quality in a neighborhood.
Posted inCommunity, Environment, Health
‘Forever Chemicals’ Threaten Community of Bay Fishers
It’s long been risky to eat fish from San Francisco Bay because pollutants like mercury build up in their bodies, and new research shows they are also contaminated with harmful “forever chemicals,” including one never before detected in marine fish. High levels of these chemicals are found in 10 species of fish frequently caught in San Francisco Bay, according to a study that the San Francisco Estuary Institute published in May. The newly detected contamination threatens anglers’ health and what many of them consider a way of life.
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are colloquially called “forever chemicals” because they are notoriously difficult to eliminate or break down. PFAS can cause cancers, thyroid and hormone disruption, and developmental delays, and can weaken the immune system, said study author Rebecca Sutton.
Posted inEnvironment, Social Justice
Racial Disparities in Toxic Cleanup Times Especially Pronounced in SF, Data Shows
Toxic site cleanups take longer in parts of San Francisco where fewer residents are white, a new data analysis from the San Francisco Public Press shows. The analysis also shows that a higher proportion of residents who are Black, Indigenous and other people of color in an area correlates directly with longer cleanup durations.
Across all sites in San Francisco, cleanups took more than four years longer in areas with high proportions of BIPOC residents than in majority white areas. The size, complexity and nature of toxic sites varies and could account for some differences but further analysis shows that these disparities hold when comparing sites of similar complexity and size.
Posted inBay Area, Environment, Social Justice
New Environmental Justice Coalition Protests EPA Cuts
About 150 Bay Area residents and advocates for environmental justice gathered on the steps of an Environmental Protection Agency office in downtown San Francisco on Tuesday to protest the Trump administration’s rollbacks of environmental protections.
The coalition enables member organizations to share ideas and learn from one another, said Sarah Ranney, director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Sierra Club.
“Historically, things have been done through movements just like this,” said Arieann Harrison, the founder and executive director of the Marie Harrison Community Foundation, an organization advocating for full remediation of the toxic Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.
Posted inEnvironment, Health, Social Justice
Toxic Waste Cleanups Take Longer in Marginalized Communities
Toxic site cleanups take longer in marginalized communities, according to a new Public Press analysis of more than 20,000 sites of varying size across the nine-county Bay Area.
In areas that scored high on a national index of socioeconomic vulnerability, the median cleanup took more than 450 days longer than in the least vulnerable areas.
Many factors, including the type of toxin, the nature of the site and the complexity of the cleanup, could affect how long a remediation takes and explain some of the differences. But in a subset of more than 12,000 cleanups of comparable complexity, the disparities were even more pronounced.
Experts warn that prolonged exposure to contamination as a result of slow cleanups can increase the risk of illness for nearby residents.
Posted inBay Area, Environment
Bay Area Group Reveals Worst Toxic Sites, Refocusing Environmental Activism
Environmental activists have designed a new tool to better understand toxic threats facing Bay Area residents.
The tool, which analyzes mountains of government data and records, is already revealing pollution that was previously hidden, organizers say. With this new knowledge, they are redirecting their focus to ameliorating the greatest dangers.
Posted inCity Hall, Elections, Government & Politics, San Francisco November 2024 Voter Guide
Proposition M — Overhaul SF Business Tax System
See our November 2024 SF Voter Guide for a nonpartisan analysis of measures on the San Francisco ballot, for the election occurring Nov. 5, 2024. The following measure is on that ballot. Proposition M would fundamentally change how the city taxes businesses, in order to better align with post-pandemic work norms and strengthen the government’s long-term financial footing. […]