By Jacob Klein
In March of this year, the US Army Corps of Engineers released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for a proposed project to dredge a deeper shipping channel through San Francisco Bay. The SF Bay to Stockton Navigation Project would dredge along 13 miles from the San Francisco Bay through the Carquinez Strait past Martinez to Avon in order to deepen certain channels by three feet, allowing for larger shipments of crude oil, coal, and other commodities.
Unfortunately, the FEIS did not adequately address concerns about the project raised by the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations. The FEIS fails to comment on certain ecological and environmental justice issues, and dismisses other concerns by repeating one formulaic response word-for-word. In response, the Sierra Club and partner organizations have submitted a letter to the Army Corps strongly warning against moving forward with the project without addressing its impacts, including significant increases in local air pollution, a higher risk of oil spills, and a threat to imperiled fish and marine mammals living in the Bay and Delta.
This project is specifically designed to support the fossil fuels industry. Five refineries sit along the northern Bay Area straits, and dredging would make it easier for oil tankers to move greater amounts of crude to and from four of the refineries on the corridor. Fossil fuels already receive government subsidies (and are even seeking bailouts while workers and families are suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic) and this project would be further support for these industries, costing roughly $57 million between federal and local funds. It is past time to stop propping up the energy industry of the past when we know the future requires a rapid transition to clean energy.
Although the project is designed to increase shipping capacity, the Final Environmental Impact Statement makes the dubious claim that it would reduce ship traffic and thus pollution. There is little substantiation for this and plenty of reason to believe that ships would continue to operate at current levels and with more fossil fuel cargo — likely leading to greater pollution here and elsewhere. Communities already bearing the brunt of the negative health impacts of fossil fuels will be subjected to even more harmful air pollution.
Most surprisingly of all, there is no local agency that has a voice in this project. Three of the four benefiting refineries are in Contra Costa County, and the fourth is in Solano County, yet the project’s non-federal co-sponsor is the Port of Stockton in San Joaquin County 65 miles away from the closest refinery. This is improper and implies an inappropriate piecemealing of the project to extend deepened channels from Avon to Stockton, setting the stage for an additional 65 miles of dredging in the future. Until there is local representation to speak up for the people actually impacted by the project, it should not move forward.
And finally, there have been insufficient opportunities for the public to weigh in on this very important issue. There is no public hearing happening, and now that California has instituted shelter-in-place orders, there also haven’t been any virtual hearings planned. Thanks to all our members and supporters who submitted comments on the project before the April 21 deadline.