San Francisco Votes To Cancel Power Plant Contract
SAN FRANCISCO , CA - The controversial plan to build $273 million worth of brand new power plants to replace San Francisco’s aging Mirant Potrero Power Plant appears to have at last had its plug pulled. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) voted 3-0 yesterday to rescind the contract to build new power plants in Southeast San Francisco that has sat before the Board of Supervisors since March. Commissioners Richard Sklar, David Hochschild, and Dennis Normandy voted in favor of rescission, while Commissioner Ann Moller Caen was out of town and Commissioner F.X. Crowley left the room before the vote.
The rejection of the “peaker” power plant proposal caps a remarkable past several months in which Mayor Gavin Newsom, who once supported the plan, withdrew his backing to join a chorus of residents, environmentalists, social justice activists, and Supervisors Michela Alioto-Pier, Ross Mirkarimi, Chris Daly, and Tom Ammiano in opposing the measure.By reengaging state regulators in June of this year to reassess the 2004 plan that required the construction of new power plants to replace the Potrero Plant, Mayor Newsom was able to secure closure of over 90% of the Potrero Plant in 2010, with the remaining units to be retrofit and on standby as San Francisco develops in-city renewable energy sources.
According to the SFPUC, the new alternative will result in no cost to the City and drastically reduce pollution in the City’s Bayview-Hunters Point and Potrero neighborhoods. The SFPUC will now determine how many of the remaining Potrero units to retrofit, and whether the City can accelerate the estimated three to five years before the plant closes in totality. The new power plants were projected to run 2,000-4,000 hours per year for 18 to 30 years.
San Francisco To Vote On New Power Plants Tomorrow
SAN FRANCISCO , CA - The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will vote tomorrow on whether to build $273 million worth of new fossil fuel-burning power plants in and around the Southeast communities of Bayview-Hunters Point and Potrero. It was once thought that building the new power plants was required as the only means of shutting the aging Mirant Potrero Power Plant. However, a coalition of residents, activists, and Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi, Michela Alioto-Pier, Chris Daly, and Tom Ammiano issued a call that culminated in last month's announcement by Mayor Gavin Newsom that he had secured a commitment from state regulators to shut 94% of the Potrero Plant in 2010, without the new power plants.
The Board must now choose a preference between retrofitting the remaining Potrero units, estimated to be shut down within 3 to 5 years, or building the new power plants, which will run from 18 to 30 years depending on their hours of operation. Last Tuesday the SF Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) voted 5-0 to endorse the retrofit as its preferred option. On July 1 SFPUC General Manager Barbara Hale confirmed that the retrofit option is cleaner than building the $273 million new power plants. Listen to the discussion of comparative emissions online by clicking here.)
The Board has also approved a study of a "transmission only" means of shutting Potrero and it appears that the new power plants will be tabled so that the balance of the power plant debate can be between retrofitting the remaining Potrero units or replacing them with transmission upgrades.
07/02/2008
SFPUC Confirms That Building New Power Plants Dirtier Than Phased Closure Of Existing Power Plant
SAN FRANCISCO , CA - Unless a transmission study commissioned last week by the Board of Supervisors demonstrates that the remaining units of the Potrero Power Plant can be closed when the plant's polluting smokestack shuts down in early 2010, the Board may soon have to decide between retrofitting those remaining units or building brand new power plants in the same neighborhood.
If the decision to retrofit must be made, legislators can take solace knowing that they have opted for what appears to be the environmentally sound alternative. Yesterday, SF Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) General Manager Edward Harrington told Brightline and representatives of the Sierra Club that retrofitting the remaining Potrero units would be cleaner than building the $273 million new peaker power plants.
SFPUC Deputy General Manager Barbara Hale confirmed Mr. Harrington's assessment later in the day at a meeting of the SFPUC Citizens' Advisory Committee (CAC).
(Listen to SFPUC's Barbara Hale, Brightline's Joshua Arce, and the Potrero Boosters' Joe Boss discuss the comparative emissions of retrofit vs. building new CTs on July 1 here.)
Ms. Hale explained to CAC Power Subcommittee Chair Kimia Mizany that the discrepancy between annual hours of operation for retrofitted peakers running a few hundred hours per year and the new power plants running 1,900 hours per year, according to the SFPUC's consultant, accounts for why the retrofit option would be cleaner. Environmentalists and residents are worried that the new power plants, permitted to run up to 4,000 hours per year, might run even more frequently during their 18 to 30 year lifespan.
Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi, Michela Alioto-Pier, Chris Daly, and Tom Ammiano have pushed their colleagues to embrace a more environmentally sound and just alternative to building the proposed new fossil fuel-burning power plants. Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Sophie Maxwell are the proponents of the new quarter-billion dollar power plants, and City Attorney Dennis Herrera had recently registered concern that the retrofit alternative may not be as clean as building the new power plants.
Last month Mayor Gavin Newsom announced that the California Independent System Operator has agreed to allow the City to shut down Unit 3 of the Potrero Plant, which accounts for 94% of the plant's annual output and constitutes the billowing smokestack that has plagued Southeast residents for decades, in the first quarter of 2010. The Board and the Mayor must now address closure of the remaining three Potrero "peaker" units, which typically run 200-250 hours per year.
Download the entire July 1, 2008 SFPUC Citizens' Advisory Committee discussion here.
06/04/2008
It's Official: San Francisco Doesn't Need To Build New Power Plants
SAN FRANCISCO , CA - Yesterday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors postponed consideration of the City's proposed $273 million power plants until July 15. The unanimous vote to postpone came on the heels of a June 2 announcement from the California Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO) that San Francisco no longer needs to build new power plants to shut down the existing Mirant Potrero Power Plant.
Supervisors largely welcomed the news from Cal-ISO, which represents a departure from Cal-ISO's 2004 Action Plan for San Francisco that called for the replacement of the Potrero Plant with the proposed 200-megawatt combustion turbine power plants. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi in particular noted that until recently "the right questions were not necessarily asked by this city government" and that if new information "leads to the place where we do not need to one-for-one supplant in-city generation we're absolutely on the right track."
Earlier in the day Mayor Gavin Newsom announced in a letter to the Board that the Potrero Plant's gas-burning smokestack, Unit 3, will be shut down in early 2010 when the Trans Bay Cable plugs in, without the construction of any new power plants. Following the Board's postponement of the power plant legislation, Supervisor Sophie Maxwell introduced a resolution calling for the exploration of a "transmission-only" solution that would allow the Potrero Plant's three remaining smaller units to shut down on the same day as the Unit 3 smokestack.
Supervisors Mirkarimi and Michela Alioto-Pier rallied over 100 Bayview residents and environmental activists on the steps of City Hall on May 5, bringing together one of the most diverse San Francisco coalitions in recent memory. Included are Supervisors Chris Daly and Tom Ammiano, who have for many months been steadfast in their opposition to these power plants that would continue to pollute the Southeast communities for at least the next 20 years. The swelling chorus of voices calling for environmental justice gave support to Mayor Newsom to pointedly tell state regulators that San Francisco will not be building any new power plants anymore.
Download the June 3, 2008 Letter from Gavin Newsom and supporting documents here. Read an article in today's SF Bayview Newspaper on this story here.
05/12/2008
Environmental Attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Writes In Opposition To San Francisco Power Plants
SAN FRANCISCO , CA - Natural Resources Defense Council Senior Attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this afternoon wrote to Mayor Gavin Newsom and San Francisco Supervisors to express his concern that the City's "peaker plant proposal is based on a plan [that is ] several years old and did not account for the existence of these [new] alternatives." Kennedy suggested that America's need for San Francisco's "leadership on clean energy has never been more urgent and the stakes for our environment and our nation have never been greater.
Kennedy joins Brightline and a host of national and local groups, including Sierra Club, SPUR, Environmental Defense, Our City, and the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, in opposing San Francisco's proposed $273 million power plants.
Read RFK Jr.'s Letter to Mayor Newsom and the Board of Supervisors here.
04/28/2008
Leading Environmental Organizations Call For San Francisco To Reject Proposed New Power Plants
SAN FRANCISCO , CA - Today sixteen leading environmental and public interest organizations, ranging in scope from national to neighborhood-specific, announced their opposition to proposed new combustion turbine power plants in Southeast San Francisco.
Four new power plants were proposed in 2004 as replacements for San Francisco's aging Potrero Power Plant, though state regulators now concede that some or all of the marginally cleaner new power plants are no longer required for them to approve the closure of the old power plant.
Today's letter urges Mayor Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to go one step further to "abandon [San Francisco's] plan to build new fossil fuel-burning power plants amongst its environmental justice communities" and create "a truly revolutionary plan for a renewable energy future for San Francisco and the planet."
Download the April 28, 2008 Letter to Mayor Newsom and the Board of Supervisors Regarding Proposed New Proposed Plants here.
02/29/2008
Brightline Files Opposition to EPA Motion to Dismiss
SAN FRANCISCO , CA - Brightline Defense Project today filed its opposition to the EPA and EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson's motion requesting that Judge Breyer dismiss plaintiffs' two claims against them.
The EPA defendants have argued that plaintiffs' claims for federal mandamus and relief under the Administrative Procedure Act are preempted by the citizen suit provision of the Clean Air Act.
Brightline and plaintiffs today responded that Clean Air Act relief is unavailable precisely because Johnson has for nearly one year ignored the Supreme Court's April 2007 order in Massachusetts v. EPA to begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.
Download Brightline's Feb. 29, 2008 Opposition to EPA's Motion to Dismiss here.
Download the EPA's February 15, 2008 Motion to Dismiss here.
12/18/2007
Brightline Files Amended Complaint In Federal Suit on S.F.'s Proposed New Power Plants
SAN FRANCISCO , CA - On Friday, December 14 Brightline Defense Project amended its federal complaint seek an injunction against San Francisco proposed "peaker" power plants in Southeast San Francisco.
In addition to Brightline's initial request that Judge Charles R. Breyer should compel the EPA to promulgate greenhouse gas regulations as commanded by the U.S. Supreme Court in April, the amended complaint incorporates the City of San Francisco's motion to become a defendant in the lawsuit.
The City and S.F. Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) General Manager Susan Leal filed a motion on October 26 requesting to intervene in the case as it has "an interest in the transaction that is the subject of this proceeding."
Friday's amended complaint formally charges the SFPUC and Ms. Leal with civil rights due process violations due to misrepresentation and failure to disclose material fact by Ms. Leal and her staff.
Plaintiffs allege that in addition to refusing to allow the City's proposed project to benefit from new greenhouse gas rules to be set forth by the EPA and the local air quality district, the General Manager and her staff have misrepresented the supposed benefits of the power plants, as well as the position that the new plants are required "in San Francisco" rather than "on the SF peninsula" if the old Mirant plant is to be shut down, according to the suit.
Plaintiffs ask for a new round of public hearings at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to see if the best available and most objective science still requires fossil-fuel burning power plants in San Francisco.
San Francisco Public Utilties Commission to Vote Today on SFERP Power Plant
SAN FRANCISCO , CA - The five-member San Francisco Public Utilities Commission will vote today whether to build the San Francisco Electric Reliability Project (SFERP) combustion turbine power plant in Southeast San Francisco.
Brightline advocates that the people of Potrero and Bayview Hunters Point are entitled to zero pollution and the written guarantee that building a new power plant will close the neighboring Potrero Power Plant.
As of today's vote there is no such guarantee, and the pollution reduction offered by the SFERP has now been undercut by data released Friday that shows the SFERP to offer a 0-25% percent reduction in emissions from the old Potrero plant, not the 83% reduction that has been suggested.
Brightline Issues White Paper on the Correlation Between Building the SFERP Power Plant and Closure of Mirant's Potrero Power Plant
SAN FRANCISCO , CA - Brightline Defense Project today issued a white paper On the Correlation Between the San Francisco Electric Reliability Project and Closure of the Potrero Power Plant.
The paper analyzes the gambling proposition that is the City's upcoming final decision to build site the SFERP combustion turbine plant or not:
Will building the SFERP guarantee the closure of the Potrero Power Plant?
Brightline's white paper analyzes the facts and reports the opinions of the authorities. Ultimately, we agree with the San Francisco Department of Public Health's September 2007 Eastern Neighborhoods Community Health Assessment:
“It is imperative that the City of San Francisco obtains an agreement from Mirant to secure the
closure of the [Potrero] power plant before the final approval of the SFPUC to site the new CTs.
The final approval of siting the new CTs should not be permitted unless the plant closure is
guaranteed.”
Download a copy of the October 9, 2007 Brightline white paper On the Correlation Between the San Francisco Electric Reliability Project and Closure of the Potrero Power Plant here.
10/04/2007
Brightline Files Request for California Energy Commission Reconsideration of the SFERP Power Plant
SAN FRANCISCO , CA - Brightline Defense Project today filed a request that the California Energy Commission ("CEC") reconsider its certification of the San Francisco Electric Reliability Project combustion turbine power plant. The request was filed on behalf of Brightline, the San Francisco Chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, and CAlifornians for Renewable Energy.
Substantial developments and new information illustrate that now, exactly one year after the CEC’s certification of the SFERP
power plant, the SFERP does not need to be built among the mostly low-income, minority residents of Southeast San Francisco.
The CEC rejected the "No Project" alternative, which means that the SFERP power plant would
not be constructed, because it “would neither facilitate the possible closure of existing generation or,
more importantly, provide enhanced reliability for San Francisco’s electrical supply.”
However, recent developments and studies suggest that the aging Potrero Power Plant can
be closed, and San Francisco’s electrical reliability bolstered, without the SFERP plant.
Download a copy of the October 4, 2007 Request for CEC Reconsideration of the SFERP Power Plant here.
09/24/2007
Brightline Brings Federal Action Against EPA and BAAQMD To Stop Construction of Proposed Peaker Plant
SAN FRANCISCO , CA - Brightline Defense Project filed a lawsuit in federal court today to stop further action by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District ("BAAQMD") in permitting construction of the San Francisco Electric Reliability Project and its three natural gas-burning combustion turbine "peakers."
The suit alleges that the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has failed to respond to the United State Supreme Court's April 2, 2007 ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA that the agency must state a viable reason for refusing to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act or, alternatively, promulgate such rules and regulations immediately.
The proposed power plant will be sited amongst the City's low-income, mostly minority residents of Potrero and Bayview Hunters Point. Apart from the dangers posed by ground-level greenhouse gas pollution to residents, the hazards of global warming for society are increasingly well-known and documented.
The suit asks the court to enjoin the BAAQMD, the agency to which the EPA has delegated the task of analyzing the peaker plant under the Clean Air Act, from issuing Authority to Construct the plant until the EPA has complied with the Supreme Court's directive.
Brightline filed suit on behalf of community activist and Vice-President of CAlifornians For Renewable Energy Lynne Brown, activist Regina Hollins, and the San Francisco Chapter of non-profit community based organization A. Philip Randolph Institute.
Download a copy of the September 24, 2007 Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief here.
08/20/2007
Brightline Files Suit Alleging Use of Excessive Force In a Racially Motivated Baseless Arrest of a Brentwood Man
ANTIOCH, CA - Brightline Defense Project today filed suit alleging that the City of Antioch Police Department violated the constitutional rights of and committed tortious acts against twenty-two-year-old Peter Martin Quichis. Quichis claims he was injured and threatened with further bodily harm while being detained and subsequently arrested while hanging out with friends in the parking lot of the Delta View Apartments.
According to Quichis, Officer Kevin Kollo requested identification from Quichis, then violently restrained him when he responded that he had none. As a result, Quichis sustained shoulder, wrist, and head injuries. Plaintiff also claims that Officer Kollo threatened to “take him to the woods” and used anti-Latino racial epithets as plaintiff rode in the officer’s police car and while plaintiff was at the police station.
Brightline's initial attempts to resolve the claim with the City of Antioch were rejected, leading to today's complaint.
Download a copy of the August 20, 2007 Complaint for Damages here.
07/31/2007
Brightline Urges San Francisco to Reject Proposed Combustion Turbine "Peaker" Plant in Potrero
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Brightline Defense Project wrote Mayor Gavin Newsom today to urge that he withdraw his support for a proposed power plant to be sited on the border of Potrero and Bayview Hunters Point.
The proposed construction of three combustion turbine "peakers" to be used in times of excessive electrical demand would be a hopeful means of shutting the polluting Mirant Power Plant. Yet the peaker plant itself discharges nearly 100 tons of polluntant per year and is the lesser of two evils for the neighboring low-income and mostly minority residents of Potrero and Bayview Hunters Point.
The City hopes that construction of the "peaker" plant will lead to cancellation of the state's "must-run" contract with Mirant and voluntary closure of the Mirant Power Plant.
Brightline argues that the risks associated with using a smaller power plant to shut down a larger one outweigh zero-pollution alternatives, especially if there is not even a guarantee of closure of the Mirant Plant.
A copy of Brightline's July 31, 2007 Letter to Mayor Newsom is available here.
07/13/2007
Brightline Files Suit Alleging Discrimination By Nation's Largest Janitorial Company Toward Chinese-American Employee
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Brightline Defense Project today filed suit alleging Fair Employment and Housing Act violations by San Francisco-based ABM Industries on behalf of former janitor Yuk Wa Suen.
Suen alleges that her supervisor and ABM targeted Chinese employees for a disproportionate share of the janitorial workload, excessive verbal abuse, and even a prohibition on the use of Chinese language in the workplace. The suit claims that ABM made no efforts to end the November 22, 2006 language ban and failed to take any steps to stop the harassment of Chinese employees.
"We took the case first, because it's the right thing to do," explains Brightline Executive Director and Staff Attorney Joshua Arce, "and second, because Yuk Wa has been our own janitor and friend for the past three years."
Suen is a member of Service Employees International Union Local 87 and was Brightline's first visitor when it opened the doors of its new office on May 1, 2007.
Download a copy of the July 13, 2007 Complaint for Damages here.
06/05/2007
Brightline Issues White Paper In Regard to Government Reaction to Naturally-Occurring Asbestos in El Dorado Hills, Analogizes Current Asbestos Concerns in Bayview Hunters Point
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Brightline Defense Project today issued a white paper analyzing El Dorado Hills local government response to naturally-occurring asbestos in that community, and its disturbance by home developers.
Brightline has on several occasions attended community meetings at Grace Tabernacle Church in Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco and listened to community leaders speak about community health concerns. Respiratory problems are already disproportionately high among residents and have spiked since the redevelopment of the old Hunters Point Naval Shipyard has begun in earnest.
The white paper contemplates a road map for the City of San Francisco and Bay Area Air Quality Management District to take if the data supports the community's contention that it has been exposed to asbestos by the redevelopment project.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Brightline Defense Project today began focusing on environmental justice issues concerning the so-called "Toxic Triangle" of Bayview Hunters Point. In addition to its ongoing litigation on other civil rights issues, Brightline seeks to offer services of education and facilitation in regard to three sources of disproportionate pollution on the City's largely low-income and minority residents of zip code 94124: the Southeast Wastewater Treatment Plant, redevelopment of the former Hunters Point Shipyard, and the Mirant Power Plant.
Since meeting environmental justice activists at the April 16 Government Audits and Oversight Committee hearing, Brightline has had the chance to listen to stories of unfair distribution of the negative impacts associated with raw sewage treatment, residential construction on toxic land, and electricity production, respectively.
We hope to continue our work in gathering information and possibly helping to provide solutions in regard to these areas throughout the year.
05/01/2007
Brightline Moves Offices to Civic Center
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Brightline Defense Project today moved its offices from Downtown San Francisco to Civic Center, across from UC Hastings College of Law. Brightline is now located at 240 Golden Gate Avenue, Suite 102, San Francisco 94102, in a building owned by Service Employees International Union Local 87.
"Our new street-level location allows us to develop our plan to be a visible presence in the community," explained Executive Director Joshua Arce. "In addition, we hope to strengthen our internship program at Hastings by being across the street."
Brightline can still be reached at 415-837-0600, or its toll-free number 877-837-0110, and its fax number remains 415-837-0660.
04/16/2007
Brightline Presents Its Services to the San Francisco Government Audits and Oversight Committee
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - This afternoon Brightline Defense Project introduced itself and presented its services to the San Francisco Government Audits and Oversight Committee of the Board of Supervisors. Brightline Executive Director Joshua Arce informed the committee of its purpose to provide civil rights legal aid and advocacy for underrepresented San Franciscans.
Supervisors Sean Elsbernd, Chris Daly, and Ed Jew were present to hear of Brightline's mission in "watching and advocating the rights of low income, minority, and non-English speaking residents," as Arce explained.
03/23/2007
Brightline Files Violation of Americans with Disabilities Act Claim in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES , CA - Brightline Defense Project today filed a claim of violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) against one of the nation's largest banks at the Los Angeles District Office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The case, which remains confidential pending the results of the EEOC's investigation, involves an employee who alleges he was terminated for his refusal to accept an unconstiutional invasion of privacy as a condition of employment. The employee alleges that he requested accommodation for his physical disability and received the employer-bank's request for the invasion of privacy in response.
The EEOC is the federal agency designated to respond to accusations of discrimination in the workplace. Upon receiving a Charge of Discrimination like that filed by Brightline and its client, the EEOC will investigate the case and either make a determination of the merits of the case or give the client the right to file his or her own suit in the courts.
More information on the EEOC's charge processing procedure may be found here.
03/10/2007
Supervisor Ammiano Cites Brightline in the Mission Dispatch
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - San Francisco District 9 Supervisor Tom Ammiano today cited Brightline Defense Project in an article in the Mission Dispatch neighborhood newspaper, calling the organization "an invaluable tool." Supervisor Ammiano announced Brightline as a resource for "free legal advice" and asked that any resident experiencing "discrimination" or "harassment" call Brightline immediately via its toll-free number.
Supervisor Ammiano's entire article can be read here.
01/22/2007
Retaliation Alleged Against UC Regents
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Brightline Defense Project today filed a complaint in San Francisco Superior Court alleging retaliation against a former University of California employee who reported discrimination on the basis of national origin and age by his supervisor.
The case of Behravan v. The Regents of the University of California, S.F. Sup. Ct. Case No.CGC-06-457578, represents Brightline's effort to call attention to the need for employees to be able to report misconduct in the workplace without fear of reprisal. Plaintiff alleges that he was punished by his supervisor for complaining to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by being placed on performance review as soon as the supervisor learned of the complaint.
Brightline's initial attempts to resolve the dispute with the Regents were resisted, leading to today's complaint for violation of the state Fair Employment and Housing Act. A Case Management Conference is scheduled for April 6, 2007 in Department 212 of the Superior Court, 400 McAllister Street, San Francisco.
11/08/2006
Brightline Receives 501(c)(3) Status
CINCINNATI, OH - The Internal Revenue Service today granted 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status to Brightline Defense Project, classifying the San Francisco-based group as a public charity. Brightline, a non-profit civil rights legal aid organization, is now eligible for grants and public support for its charitable activities.
Brightline offers legal education to the community, as well as advocacy services for civil rights complaints. In addition, Brightline plans to file civil suits in the most egregious of unresolved complaints and has a budget to file five cases per year.
A copy of the IRS' notification letter may be downloaded here.
11/01/2006
Welcome to Brightline Defense Project!
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Brightline Defense Project, a San Francisco-based civil rights legal aid organization, today launched a new website that features educational tools and a complaint intake system for individuals who wish to know more about their individual rights.
