Containing a Toxic Mess on the East Bay Shoreline

My Eco Watch article in this week's East Bay Express tells the story of the Selby Slag Site near Rodeo on the East Bay shore. It's a story of a century-long legacy of pollution and a three-decade effort now in its final stages (hopefully) to contain a cocktail of heavy metals continually leaching into the San Francisco Bay. Next time you're driving over the Carquinez Bridge, look to the west along the East Bay (Crockett side) shoreline. You'll see the huge, flat piece of land hugging the shore right around the bend about 3/4 of a mile away that looks like a big parking lot. It's actually a toxic slag pile graded and topped with asphalt. That's the Selby Slag Site. In the next few years, as my story explains, an effort will be underway to contain the site around its perimeter in order to prevent heavy metals like cadmium, lead, and arsenic from seeping into the surrounding environment, including the waters of the bay.