Environment

What now, Jeff Ritterman?

A month after the election, the departing Councilmember Jeff Ritterman can see the end of his term on the council, if not an end to the debate about public health.

One woman’s quest to clean up 100 years of chemical waste

The site of a former Stauffer Chemical Co. plant in Richmond is still contaminated with a huge amount of toxic waste. Sherry Padgett, whose office is across the street, has spent the last decade trying to get the site’s current owners and environmental regulators to clean it up. Click the arrow to hear Padgett and other local residents tell their stories.

Henry Clark and three decades of environmental justice

Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin first saw Henry Clark, as so many have, at the gates of Richmond’s Chevron oil refinery. It was a blustery day in June 2003 and Clark was calling for environmental accountability from the oil company – as he has for many years – in front of an impassioned crowd of community members holding signs attacking refinery flares and “dirty air.” “He spoke prior to me” at the event, recalls McLaughlin, who had arrived armed with statistics…

Asthma hospitalization rates for children in Contra Costa County

Environmental health advocates have often linked asthma rates in Richmond to nearby industrial polluters like the Chevron refinery. But while science has established some strong correlations between air pollution and asthma episodes — such as in studies conducted by the California EPA Air Resources Board or published in scientific journals such as Current Opinion on Pulmonary Medicine — the jury’s still out on causation. “The connection between asthma and air quality is complicated,” says Abigail Kroch, Director of Epidemiology, Planning & Evaluation at Contra…

Kaiser Permanente Richmond Medical Center receives top hospital designation

For the third year in a row the Kaiser Permanente Richmond Medical Center has been listed as one of the best hospitals in the country by the Leapfrog Group, a nonprofit group that surveys hospital performance. “I’m really proud of the accomplishment of the people that work really hard everyday,” said Dr. Timothy Batchelder, the hospital’s physician-in-chief. Batchelder said he sees this honor as an opportunity to reaffirm the labor and commitment shown by his staff – for, he said,…

RAC’s Holiday Arts Festival goes green

Richmond Arts Center has been holding holiday arts festivals for more than 50 years. But this is the first time its festival has gone green, thanks to volunteers who spent a week in November making decorations for the Dec. 2 festival out of old newspapers. This shift from new to recycled materials is innovative, cost-efficient and environmentally friendly. And it represents a more dignified final use for newspapers than serving as birdcage liner for the family parrot. “People have donated…

Wading with the oyster catchers

Point Pinole is perfectly silent except for the squawks of birds flying overhead and the occasional cringe-inducing crunch under foot. The low tide exposes a muddy stretch of shoreline, the rocks red and Martian-like under the setting sun. Despite its fleeting resemblance to the Red Planet, the question here isn’t whether there’s life, but whether there could be more. There’s plenty of living things at Point Pinole – just look closely at the rocks at low tide or turn over…