Code of Silence

Contact Robert Lundahl & Associates: info@studio-rla.com, 415.205.3481.

Code of Silence is a shocking story of the fast-tracking of development at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, California.

Within the city limits of America's number one tourist destination, lies one of America's most dangerous Superfund sites. It is here that melted combat ships from the Bikini Island nuclear tests in the 1950's were sent to be "decommissioned."

What this meant was that the ships were sandblasted by African American sailors, who had migrated from the South for jobs in the war effort. The base is contaminated with nuclear materials buried in various parcels, along with other chemicals, toxins, and heavy metals.

Clean up of the area is estimated to cost 800 million dollars, eight times the federal budget (2009) for Superfund mitigation. Instead, the City of San Francisco, the federal government, and private companies have worked together to propose housing on the site. But this neighborhood would be unlike most.

Covenants would prohibit gardens, planting, or digging soil in any fashion. The Superfund sites would be capped with plastic. Above ground, playgrounds, schools, and residences would create the appearance of a normal community.

Is this "Potemkin Village" an illusion to protect federal agencies and private companies from their obligations to clean up the site and ensure the health and safety of citizens and residences?

Written by Robert Lundahl and Susan Utell and and directed by Robert Lundahl.
2009 Freshwater Bay Pictures, LLC.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Hunters Point
• superfund