"Can-do" East Bay community confronts climate change and rising tides
RICHMOND -- As the earth warms, the sea rises and cities along the San Francisco Bay waterfront are being ordered by the state to prepare for higher tidal surges in the years to come.
In the East Bay, the city of Richmond is already looking toward that day, with a wary eye on the challenges that come from the city's industrial legacy.
During World War II, Richmond gained its reputation as a "can do" industrial city as it cranked out ships for the war effort. Over the years, when companies produced toxic waste, they simply dug a hole and buried it.
"There are contaminated sites along the shoreline we need to also be concerned about," said Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia. "How will sea level rise affect contamination along our industrial shoreline here in Richmond and Contra Costa? That's a big issue."
At a community meeting Saturday afternoon, city and county leaders began discussions on a state-mandated "Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan" to deal with sea level rise. It's something every waterfront city must do in the coming years but councilmember Gayle McLaughlin said Richmond faces special challenges.
"We do have some of our shoreline now that is just left vacant but underneath the surface are a lot of toxins," she said.
That's a problem because projections from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that, as the sea rises, more industrial areas of the city could be affected. One of those sites is the former Zeneca chemical plant. It's been fenced off for years with a plan to cover the highly toxic soil with a concrete cap then build 4,000 homes above it. Critics say that will do nothing to stop the effects of sea-level rise.
"It will cause the groundwater to make contact with the toxins and that mobilizes them further off site and into the bay," said McLaughlin. "So, we're really concerned about -- not only the Zeneca site -- but there are just dozens of sites on our shoreline that have toxic 'leftovers.' And very serious ones."
So what can be done? Scientists say it's time to take a cue from nature. There are proposals underway to re-establish the tidal marshes that once lined the bay. The grasses act like shock absorbers against storm surges and, as the sea rises bringing in sediment, the marshes rise naturally to the level of the water.
Katie McKnight, an environmental scientist and senior design manager for the S.F. Estuary Institute, said it's a much more resilient strategy than simply dropping more layers of rock along the bay.
"I think most people are familiar with 'gray infrastructure.'" she said. "That typically is hardened infrastructure -- so things like concrete and steel and rock. And over time we've learned that using nature can actually be really, really helpful because nature is much more adaptable to change and shocks to the system."
The Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan was signed into law in 2023 and requires all waterfront cities in the Bay Area to submit their sea-level protection plans to the state by Jan. 1, 2034. So this is only the beginning. There are still years of planning to come but Richmond has a special reason to begin the process as soon as possible as it faces the consequences of burying the sins of its past.