PG&E Tower, ‘Symbol of Environmental Racism,’ Removed From Bayview-Hunters Point

A PG&E transmission tower in San Francisco‘s Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood is being removed this week after years of advocacy by residents over health and environmental concerns.

Arieann Harrison, whose family has lived in the neighborhood for generations, grew up across the street from the tower. She said she and other residents are glad to see it go.

“It’s a symbol of long-overdue environmental justice for Bayview-Hunters Point; this tower stood as a reminder of industrial neglect and environmental racism lingering between our community and the shoreline we deserve to access freely,” she said.

The tower, located at the entrance of India Basin Waterfront Park, stood between the neighborhood and the park for years. For residents, it was a reminder of the toxic PG&E plant that neighbors fought successfully to close in 2006.

Harrison said blood tests reveal elevated levels of metal in her body, including lead, mercury and antimony. She said her son’s tests reveal similar results, and that, more than once, she’s had to rush him to the emergency room due to excessive nose bleeds and weight loss.

She said these are the consequences of living in such an industrialized area.

“Being a Black mother, my experience … is that usually you’re looked at like you are the problem. But that wasn’t necessarily so, because it wasn’t just true for my child, it was true for every child in the building,” she said.

Harrison is one of several generations of community members who have advocated for environmental justice in the district.

“My mother, Marie Harrison, who was deemed the mother of the movement for environmental justice here in San Francisco, would be proud of seeing these projects move forward. But unfortunately, you have the city dragging its feet with doing the right thing,” she said.

In a statement, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department said that the development of the park and the removal of the tower is an effort to reconnect the neighborhood to its shoreline.

The new city park is scheduled for completion in 2028 at a total cost of $200 million.

Once completed, the park will connect the 2.5-acre southern section of the park at 900 Innes Ave to the 7.5-acre India Basin Shoreline Park, creating a 10-acre park with playgrounds, boating, a cookout terrace and more.

PG&E added that the development is a way of working with the community to meet their needs.

“This is the culmination, but not the end of many, many years of us working with and engaging with the community and attempting to keep our promises to right the wrongs of the historic inequity that has plagued this community,” said Stephanie Isaacson, senior director of community relations at PG&E.

The property at 900 Innes Ave. was acquired by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department in 2014 and was opened to the public in October 2024. It was previously used as a shipbuilding and boat repair facility, which left behind harmful chemicals in the soil.

While the contaminated soil was removed during the restoration of the park, Harrison said there’s much more work that needs to be done for the health of the community.

“For decades, Bayview Hunters Point has waited for promises to become action,” she said.“I think that the city of San Francisco needs to share some of the burden that we have here in District 10, and have borne the brunt of for a very long time — for decades.”