Hundreds of current and former police officers in San Francisco have filed a lawsuit involving the Hunter's Point Shipyard, saying they were exposed to unsafe levels of hazardous materials when they worked in a SFPD building located at the old shipyard.
Almost 400 former and current officers and staff with the department along with around 150 spouses and partners have joined the lawsuit that was filed in federal court in San Francisco against a company called Tetra Tech and two of its subsidiaries. The U.S. Navy hired Tetra Tech to clean up radiation at the old shipyard.
The suit alleges Tetra Tech mishandled the contaminated soil, was fraudulent in its cleanup and falsified records. The officers and others allege that two people died as a result and others have chronic health problems.
A Tetra Tech spokesman told the San Francisco Chronicle that the cleanup "was done properly and to the standards of the contracts with the Navy" and said the allegations in the lawsuit "are without merit."
Earlier this year, the U.S. Justice Department sued Tetra Tech, accusing the engineering company of submitting false billing claims to the Navy that were based on falsified soil and building test data in its cleanup. Back then, a Tetra Tech spokesman called the claims misleading and blamed two rogue employees.
The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit has been reporting on Hunter's Point and the cleanup for years. For more, click here.
