Mutate Now » nuclear http://www.mut8.org mutation = survival Fri, 10 Sep 2010 05:33:17 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Love Thy Nuclear Neighbors http://www.mut8.org/nuclear-neighborhood/04/2009/ http://www.mut8.org/nuclear-neighborhood/04/2009/#comments Fri, 01 May 2009 04:57:56 +0000 Molli Fire http://www.mut8.org/?p=261 I love the Bayview/Hunter’s Point area of San Francisco. It’s a mix of industrial warehouses, residential neighborhoods, waterfront property, a shipyard and a naval base. Oh yeah, and a totally toxic, seismically-active superfund site. Assembly members Ammiano and Ma along with Senator Yee, wrote a letter to SF Mayor Gavin Newsome, encouraging him to demand that the Navy properly clean the site before returning it to the city. The letter describes it as, “a hazardous and radioactive waste landfill adjacent to a state park along the bay, in a high liquefaction zone with rising sea levels … [with] toxins and radioactive waste in this very unstable geology.” Why does the U.S. government always dump the nastiest stuff on active fault lines?!?! (Look up Yucca Mountain if you don’t know.)

Waterfront Wildlife at Hunter's Point An Iron Mushroom In Hunter's Point Waterfront Wildlife at Hunter's Point

Legend has it that the navy has been irresponsibly dumping all kinds of nasty into the ground there, including sandblast run-off and a few ships that were accidentally exposed to extreme amounts of radioactive material during a failed nuclear experiment. Not exactly an ideal place to raise kids, but definitely a great place to get mutated. And I’m ALL about mutation!

Sure, I say that tongue-in-cheek. Yet, I’m irresistibly drawn to this strange place. I love urban waterfront areas, so that’s def part of it. But there must be more to it, coz a whole community of artists live and work in the area. Something about this place is so inspiring that people consciously move there and go on to create some of the most incredible and unusual forms of art I’ve seen in the whole Bay Area. Sure, it’s not the birthplace of anything as well known as hyphy or house music. But it’s a great birthplace for mutating modern art. The Hunter’s Point artist community is having Open Studios this weekend, so I’ll see what’s new and report back next week with pix. In the meantime, enjoy these lovely photos I took of the waterfront wildlife yesterday.

Bay Trail sign along Hunter's Point waterfront Waterfront Wildflower At Hunter's Point Waterfront Wildflower At Hunter's Point

Also, if you’re interested in the toxic history of the land, the SF Bay Guardian newspaper just published a great article about what our politicians are doing about it and whether the Navy is going to return the land as is or if they’re going to clean it up first. As it stands now, there’s plans to turn the naval base into a park, toxic turf and all…

Navy Nukes and War Waste – Hunter’s Point Makes Headlines in SF Guardian

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