Originally aired on ABC7: Friday, March 24, 2023
By Dan Ashley and Tim Didion
In 2021, Save The Bay achieved a major victory in our decades-long battle to protect the Redwood City salt ponds from development. But active salt-making in San Francisco Bay is still a pollution threat.
6 million tons of toxic material stored in Cargill Salt’s open ponds could spill into San Francisco Bay. Extreme rainstorms, seepage, rising sea levels, and earthquakes threaten to breach the levees and release concentrated bittern left over from the salt-making process. A toxic spill would be catastrophic to endangered wildlife and precious Bay ecosystems.
“The agencies need to go out and inspect these ponds and make sure we’re not on the verge of a catastrophic toxic spill into San Francisco Bay,” said Save The Bay Executive David Lewis.
