Baykeeper In The News
Articles and other news featuring Baykeeper's role in protecting the Bay
KQED | August 17, 2017 | Ghost Fleet
If you’ve driven on I-680, across the Benicia–Martinez Bridge, you’ve probably seen them... Some ships in the fleet fell into such disrepair that environmentalists took notice. “You could hear the crunch of the paint chips or the metal under your feet as you were walking across the decks of the ships,” says Sejal Choksi-Chugh, executive director...
East Bay Times | August 4, 2017 | Ghost Fleet
The last of 57 decaying vessels in the federal government’s iconic “Ghost Fleet” is set to leave Suisun Bay Friday, ending a long struggle over the toxic pollution leached from the old ships into waters near a major fish nursery and migration area... “The 57 ships become abandoned toxic junk,” said Sejal Choksi-Chugh, executive director of the...
Times Herald News | August 3, 2017 | Ghost Fleet
The last of 57 ships retired and and set for removal from the Suisun Bay left the Mare Island Dry Dock early Friday morning after a good-bye ceremony of sorts involving city leaders, environmental groups, and maritime staff... A representative of Baykeepers noted that federal agencies are so impressed with this removal and recycling project that...
ABC 7 News | August 3, 2017 | Ghost Fleet
Seven years and 57 ships later, the last old vessel polluting Suisun Bay is getting ready for a final voyage to a ship recycling yard in Texas. The mothball fleet sat unused for decades; a floating toxic waste dump. Here's a look at how a legal fight got us to this point... "We're talking approximately 57 vessels that were shedding toxic paint...
The Press Democrat | August 2, 2017 | Pesticides
A new regulation aimed at improving the water quality of two tributaries that run into San Pablo Bay means vineyard owners in those watersheds will have to obtain new permits... “We believe the final rule approved by the regional board was a good first step and was overdue,” said Sejal Choksi-Chugh, executive director for San Francisco Baykeeper,...
Bay Area Monitor | August 1, 2017 | Nutrient Mgmt
Nutrients — such as nitrogen — are essential to life, but an overabundance can mean trouble for waterways. Take Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, which are infamous for “dead zones” where closely-packed bodies of fish float to the surface or wash ashore by the thousands... Baykeeper, a nonprofit dedicated to stopping pollution in the Bay, is...
CBS KPIX 5 News | July 28, 2017 | Oil Spills
VALLEJO (KPIX 5) — The Phillips 66 Refinery in Rodeo wants to double the number of tankers that deliver crude to be refined, but concerns about the environment have prompted opposition from residents in the city of Vallejo.... Erica Maharg, managing attorney for the environmental protection group Baykeeper, says this expansion puts the bay...
KQED California Report | July 27, 2017 | Oil Spills
Phillips 66 wants to more than double the number of oil tankers that travel through San Francisco Bay to unload crude at its refinery in Rodeo... It “poses an incredible new risk of oil spills to San Francisco Bay,” Sejal Choksi-Chugh, executive director for Baykeeper, said in an interview. “We’re really concerned about the increase in the number...
Capital Public Radio | July 18, 2017 | Mercury
The federal government has approved new rules on mercury in California waterways... San Francisco Baykeeper's Erica Maharg says with the new federally approved water quality criteria, regional water boards throughout the state will have to identify which waterways people are using to catch fish.
"And then once that use is recognized, they will...
The Good Brine | July 3, 2017 | Bay Parade
Like many bodies of water around the world the San Francisco Bay is heavily affected by pollution. Rain water runoff carries pollutants from refineries, scrap yards, shipping docks, landfills, and countless other industrial facilities into the Bay. There have also been two oil spills in the last 10 years. This is obviously bad news for local...