Take our toxic walking tour of the Shipyard’s history of environmental pollution. Interpretive signs are located on the streets neighboring the Shipyard. Each sign tells the history of the area that the sign overlooks, pointing out the past and current pollution. Enjoy your walk!

The Shipyard’s Past

The Navy operated Hunters Point Shipyard from 1939 until 1976. At its peak, the Shipyard employed nearly 18,000 workers, many living in the nearby Bayview-Hunters Point community. This photograph shows a view of the Shipyard in 1946. From 1976 to 1986, Triple A Machine Shop leased the area as a commercial ship repair facility. The Shipyard was officially closed in 1991.

Due to the types of activities conducted on the Shipyard, the lack of environmental laws regulating the use of hazardous chemicals at that time, and lax enforcement, many areas of the Shipyard are now contaminated with hazardous wastes. Before the Navy can return the property to the City of San Francisco, the contamination must be cleaned up to safe levels.

The Shipyard Today: The Parcels

Hunters Point Shipyard consists of 936 acres: 503 on land and 433 under water in San Francisco Bay. In 1991, the Navy divided the facility into six separate parcels, A through F, to facilitate the cleanup and reuse of the Shipyard. The Navy is responsible for locating all polluted areas in each parcel and creating an appropriate clean-up plan. The map shows the parcel divisions in the Shipyard.

Future of the Shipyard

This map was designed by members of the Bayview Hunters Point Community through a process organized by the Hunters Point Shipyard Citizens Advisory Committee and San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. The map shows the types of reuse activities selected for each area of the Shipyard once it is ready for redevelopment. The first parcels designated for reuse are Parcel A and the north west corner of Parcel B.