Alameda Point Environmental Report

Burst of new development activity underway at Alameda Point

The flurry of new development activity currently underway at Alameda Point is something that hasn’t been seen since 2018 when work began on the Site A residential and commercial project. The vast majority of demolition taking place is for long-awaited housing projects. But two buildings were taken down simply because they were unsafe, unusable eyesores. And a parking lot is being repurposed for the Food Bank’s new store.

Surf Pool Proposal Perverts Park Planning Process

Lost in the fog of media hoopla about a proposal to build a surf pool at Alameda Point is that its proposed location is within a larger public park awaiting a master plan. Normally the city initiates a formal consultant-led community process to develop a master plan design from scratch. In this case, the process is backwards and misleading.

At issue is the popular tranquil open space that extends from the Encinal Boat Ramp through the former campground all the way to the ferry maintenance facility. Its unofficial placeholder name is Enterprise Park.

Student volunteers lead litter cleanup around Seaplane Lagoon

Picking up litter year-round, not just on Earth Day, is an ongoing effort for some. On Saturday, April 12, dozens of students showed up at Seaplane Promenade Park at Alameda Point to pick up litter and trash from around the lagoon.

“We do these events once a month, every second Saturday,” said Patrick Hirsch, an Alameda high school student and one of the organizers of the event who works with two of the cleanup co-sponsors Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda (CASA) and Alameda Point business DOER Marine. “We supply the buckets and pickers.”

Artistic Natural Landscapes Seldom Noticed at Alameda Point

The natural world is a living art gallery. To appreciate the often intricate colorations that evolved in many cases over millions of years requires slowing down, way down, and stopping. It may even require the aid of a magnifying glass or a camera lens. Sometimes it just means being aware at certain times of the year when flowers bloom.

One of the most fascinating, common, but little appreciated, life forms are lichens, shown here in five images. With the naked eye, the details in the “Lichen Galaxy” image, for example, go unnoticed. Yet, there on the blue rock ‘sky’ of the shoreline boulder are yellow, orange, cream, and mushroom-colored lichens.

Handling Alameda’s beach erosion problem

The City of Alameda had just endorsed concept designs to address sea level rise for its north shore, when recent storms shifted attention to the south shore.

The erosion of sand from our shoreline yet again raises an important question that the city is not considering in its adaptation planning: Should maintaining the beach be the primary objective in dealing with sea level rise and increasing powerful storms?

On the shelf sits a 1981 environmental assessment by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) that could help answer the question. A hardcopy is located in the reference section of the Alameda Free Library, 1550 Oak Street.

Mountain bikers sideline environmentalists in local Sierra Club

It’s not only the federal government that’s undergoing a purge of experienced, dedicated workers. It appears to be happening in the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club as well, as the interests of mountain bike enthusiasts continue to clash with the club’s established environmental policies.

On February 10, the chapter’s recently elected Executive Committee (ExCom) removed a slew of longtime environmentalists—without giving any reason—from chapter committees working on certain issues.

The East Bay Public Lands Committee, which monitors policies such as vegetation manageme nt, tra ils, and planning for regional parks and EBMUD watershed lands, was one victim of the purge. Three of those removed are from Alameda.

Nuclear fusion energy company eyeing Alameda Point property

More cutting edge green energy research and development may be coming to Alameda Point. A startup company called Pacific Fusion was formed in 2023 with the goal of commercializing new energy production technology. The company wants to purchase property at Alameda Point to research, develop and build their demonstration fusion energy machine.

Unlike conventional nuclear power, fusion energy technology seeks to fuse together atoms, rather than split them. The energy is considered a clean, safe, and affordable form of nuclear power that would revolutionize energy production. It has been only in the last two years that U.S. Department of Energy research labs have finally proven on their equipment that fusion energy is possible.