The city sought the permit because its plan to provide "prime power" to the site by connecting to PG&E service has gone unfulfilled for nearly 14 months. The diesel generators would provide power to the vehicles at the center until PG&E connects the site to the grid.
Candlestick Heights Community Alliance, a community organization formed to address environmental issues in the Bayview-Hunters Point area, filed extensive comments Monday on the city's permit application. And they urged the Bay Area Air Quality Management District – the permitting body – to deny the application because of the harmful emissions of diesel generation.
The CHCA highlighted an internal email in which the district's director of engineering remarked to a colleague that the city was planning to "energize the RV village with deadly diesel PM" (particulate matter) and asking "What is SF doing?"
The dispute is just the latest problem that has confronted the city in its year-long attempt to get occupied vehicles out of illegal vehicle encampments in Bayview and into a safe and secure location, where residents will have water, electric, and sanitation services, augmented by counseling and assistance in securing permanent housing.
The plan was that the city would lease a large parking lot in Candlestick Park State Recreation Area for two years and invite people, who were living in their cars or RVs in Bayview, to bring their vehicles to the parking lot.
However, it turned out that there was a problem with hooking the site to the PG&E grid. More than a year later, there is still no power in vehicles for lighting or refrigeration or charging a phone or a laptop. Vehicle residents have also been prohibited from using propane as a power source.
