Program Areas:

Environment
Economics
Justice
Education
Public Partnership
War & the Environment

Projects:

San Francisco Bay Area:

San Francisco
 • Hunters Point Shipyard
 • Yosemite Slough
 • Treasure Island
 • Presidio
Alameda
 • Alameda Naval Air Station
 • FISC Annex
East Bay Housing
Oakland
 • Chinatown
Vallejo
 • Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Contra Costa County
 • Concord Naval Weapons Station
Suisun Bay
 • Mothball Fleet

National:

Military & the Environment
RABS

International:

Philippines
Okinawa
Hidden Casualties of War

Environment

Environment & Public Health: Toxic Cleanup of Public Lands

Photograph of PCB warning sign that has been covered up.

The contamination of public lands and resources undermine public health and has had a devastating impact on the environment. Of all the threats posed to public lands, Defense facilities contribute more pollution and pose perhaps the gravest threat to public health. The environmental and health impacts of the former Soviet military have been widely reported. Within the United States alone, defense facilities account for more than 30,000 contaminated sites impacting all 50 States. Arc Ecology�s environmental scientists are dedicated to ensuring that the pollution caused by the manufacture, use, and disposal of toxic chemicals, hazardous materials, radiological substances and chemical, biological and nuclear weapons are addressed and that the public�s health is protected.

Arc Ecology works toward the cleanup of public lands locally, nationally, and internationally in a variety of ways:

• Arc Ecology provides technical review of closed and closing military base environmental cleanups and negotiates directly with the military and regulators to improve the outcomes of the pollution abatement programs.
• Arc works to ensure adequate funding for cleanup, better cleanup policies, community sensitive strategies, and we provide technical assistance to communities struggling to obtain a voice in the cleanup decision-making process.
• Arc Ecology works with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the Philippines, Okinawa, Japan, and England to ensure they have access to the experience and technical resources needed to negotiate a responsible resolution to the enormous levels of toxic pollution left behind when America closes an overseas military facility.
• At times stronger measures are required to ensure that the federal government complies with the law. In those instances, Arc�s team of pro-bono environmental attorneys swing into action to ensure that the federal government respects the rule of environmental and public health law.

Restoring the Ecology: Healing Decades of Abuse

Billions of acres of critical habitat and ecological resources have been lost to development the world over. As people learn more about the intricate interactions and relationships in local and global ecology, new strategies evolve to restore portions of these lands.

Arc Ecology believes in a comprehensive and sustainable approach to ecological restoration. We don�t think it is enough to clean property of contamination: We believe that it is important to take a holistic approach that focuses both on cleanup and land use alternatives. Many Defense facilities offer excellent opportunities to preserve and restore important ecosystems. Arc Ecology is involved in several projects to restore and enhance habitats and ecosystems in the San Francisco Bay Area.

All Arc Ecology projects are multi-disciplinary and address multiple program areas. To learn more about some of our projects that have a strong focus on the environment, see:

• Hunters Point Shipyard, San Francisco, California