Judge approves $6.3 million settlement for Hunters Point homeowners over toxic waste claims

A federal judge this week approved a settlement between housing developers and homeowners at the San Francisco Shipyard over allegations the homes — located at the site of a former naval shipyard — were built over toxic waste.

Back in July 2018, homeowners at the San Francisco Shipyard, a housing development located on the site of the former Hunters Point U.S. Naval Shipyard, sued Tetra Tech Inc., Lennar Inc. and Lennar’s affiliate FivePoint Holdings Inc.

The suit alleged defendants Lennar and FivePoint Holdings developed and sold about 350 homes on a portion of the former naval site for about $1 million each. The suit further alleged that while the homes were marketed to prospective buyers as clean and safe, Tetra Tech — the environmental firm hired by the Navy to clean the site under the Base Realignment and Closure Act — failed to properly rid the site of toxic materials.

According to court documents, on Monday, U.S. District Judge James Donato approved the $6.3 million settlement between the homeowners and Lennar and FivePoint, despite objections from Tetra Tech.

Tetra Tech has denied any wrongdoing and is not a part of the settlement. Despite this, attorneys for the plaintiffs consider the settlement a big win for Hunters Point residents, who have long alleged the area continues to be contaminated.

Theo Ellington, plaintiff and Salvation Army Director of Homeless Initiatives and Community Development, said in a statement:

“As we celebrate this victory, we are mindful that the fight for our community continues. We are grateful for the thousands of community members who are litigating in order to hold Tetra Tech and others responsible.” 

Attorney Joe Cotchett with the law firm representing the plaintiffs, Cotchett, Pitre, and McCarthy, said:

“The battle is just beginning — this case is part of the largest environmental fraud litigation in the country’s history. At their core, the cases are about environmental racism. Southeast San Francisco carries a tremendous environmental burden — it is the most polluted part of the city and has been for generations.”

Plaintiff attorney Anne Marie Murphy said:

“The settlement with Lennar and FivePoint took over a year of negotiations. … The Tetra Tech scandal, as described in our case and related cases brought by the Hunters Point residents, police officers, and whistleblowers, really rocked the city — with this settlement done, we can be laser-focused in proceeding with the case against Tetra Tech.”

Attorneys for the plaintiffs said the settlement will be given to plaintiffs in payouts ranging from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands.

The former 500-acre Navy shipyard in Hunters Point was exposed to radiation when it was used between 1946 and 1969 as a radiological defense laboratory by the Navy to study the effects of radiation on animals and materials, and to decontaminate ships used in atomic bomb testing. In 1974, however, the site was closed and developed into housing, offices and industrial facilities.

In 2002, the Navy hired Tetra Tech to clean up the radiation, however, 10 years later in 2012, former workers contracted by Tetra Tech alleged the firm’s cleanup data had been falsified and manipulated in order to minimize evidence of soil contamination.

Though Tetra Tech was a primary contractor, legal filings allege additional environmental remediation firms also made “false statements and false claims” regarding radiation at the site. Environmental documents related to the site are maintained by the Navy’s Information Repository and are available online here.

Nik Wojcik of SFBay contributed to this report.

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