TODAY – 2 PM San Francisco – Bayview Hunters Point Environmental Justice Response Task Force launch

 For Immediate Release –

Contact:  Bradley Angel (415) 447-3904 x 102; cell: (415) 722-5270  

              Marie Harrison (415) 447-3904 x 103; cell: (415) 602-0633

Statewide IVAN Network Expands to Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco
“Identifying Violations Affecting Neighborhoods”

Residents, Environmental Justice Groups, Businesses, Top State Officials and Representatives of Local, Regional, State & Federal Agencies to Join in Launch of Bayview Hunters Point Environmental Justice Response Task Force

Collaboration to Reduce Pollution Includes Website to Help Residents File Complaints

Bayview Hunters Point Environmental Justice Response Task Force
Wednesday, July 22, 2015 * 2 pm  
Southeast Community College, 1800 Oakdale, San Francisco

San Francisco, CA – Residents, environmental justice groups, industry representatives and local, regional, state and federal environmental, health and regulatory agencies will join together Wednesday, July 22, 2015 at 2 pm for the launch of the Bayview Hunters Point Environmental Justice Response Task Force at Southeast Community College, 1800 Oakdale, San Francisco.
The Bayview Hunters Point Task Force project was initiated by Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice as a collaborative, multi-stakeholder, problem solving effort to reduce pollution, improve government and industry responses to community complaints, protect health, build trust and collaboration among diverse stakeholders, and promote community resiliency and involvement.
Residents will be able to bring pollution concerns to the attention of top government officials, including State Department of Toxic Substances Control Director Barbara Lee and California EPA Assistant Secretary for Environmental Justice and Tribal Affairs Arsenio Mataka who will attend.  Representatives of USEPA, DTSC, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, San Francisco Department of the Environment, San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the Regional Water Board will attend and participate in the task force.

A new website and mobile app – www.bvhp-ivan.org will be launched to enable residents to file  on-line pollution complaints and track responses on their computer and smart phones.  
The Bayview Hunters Point Environmental Justice Task Force is the newest member of the growing IVAN Network – “Identifying Violations Affecting Neighborhoods” and the first in the northern half of the state. The IVAN Network began in the Imperial Valley and has now spread to Coachella, Wilmington, and Fresno, Kern and Kings Counties in the San Joaquin Valley.