‘Rogue employee’ accused of hiding uranium sample at infamous SF site

A former employee of a U.S. Navy subcontractor is suspected of bringing hundreds of radiological items and chemical waste into Hunters Point without the knowledge of government officials, according to new details released by the Navy. 

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The Navy first reported in May that “unauthorized” material was found in a cabinet at the Hunters Point shipyard on April 8.

The individual suspected of bringing in the material was an employee of RSI Entech, a subcontractor for the Navy hired to help remediate the area. 

“It was a rogue situation by a rogue employee that we’re trying to get to the bottom of,” Jeff Bale, director of operations at RSI Entech, said at the citizens advisory committee meeting on Monday.

About 200 radiological items, including uranium and thorium samples, along with 70 jars of various chemicals, were discovered in a locked cabinet on the superfund site, according to Michael Pound, the Navy’s environmental coordinator for the area. The materials were discovered in a 4,000-square-foot annex Building 400A. 

“I can just say that they did not have authorization to have those materials in that building,” Pound said.

Many of the radiological items were described by Bale as “check sources,” or small samples of radioactive isotopes that can be used to calibrate machinery such as a Geiger counter. These samples can be bought online without regulatory oversight. It’s unclear if all the radiological items found were used as check sources. The chemical waste included sulfuric acid.

Bale said they believe the items were brought into the building between 2019 and 2022 by an employee of Navy subcontractor Envirachem, which was acquired by RSI Entech in 2023. The individual is no longer employed by RSI Entech.

“At the time of this purchase, this 400A area was not disclosed to us,” Bale said at the meeting.

According to an update released by the Navy, there was “no health or environmental concern identified” related to the materials. The area has been deemed “secured” and “radiologically controlled,” pending surveys, Monday’s said. 

Despite the Navy’s assurances the area is secured, the advisory meeting on Monday became sometimes contentious. Both committee members and the public asked pointed questions about why the Navy was unaware of these materials for so long and why RSI Entech is leading the cleanup when its “rogue employee” was suspected of bringing in the materials. 

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Pound said Environmental Protection Agency officials and the naval officer in charge of construction make trips to the area to oversee the work. He also said RSI Entech was “transparent” about discovering the material and is working “collaboratively” with the EPA. 

The employee was not named, and Bale confirmed they no longer worked for RSI Entech. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service and EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division are now investigating if the employee broke any laws, according to Pound.

Malik Seneferu, a member of the citizens advisory committee and part of the Hunters Point Shipyard Artists community, said he had hoped for more “clarity” during the presentation.

“One thing about the Navy is they’ve never had too much respect for civilians,” Seneferu, a lifelong Bayview Hunters Point resident, told SFGATE. “So trying to get information out of the Navy is like trying to get water out of a stone.”

The designated EPA superfund area has been a site of controversy for years. It became contaminated with radiological material and other pollutants after decades as a naval ship repair yard and then as the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory from 1946 to 1969. For years, the Navy has been cleaning up the area with the EPA, along with California state regulators overseeing its work. But the community has been repeatedly frustrated by past issues, including radioactive material found near homes and the 2017 guilty plea of two contractors who admitted to falsifying soil records. 

At Monday’s meeting, the public continued to ask other questions about the site, including whether a lab testing soil samples should lose accreditation and why a 2024 detection of airborne plutonium wasn’t disclosed for nearly year. 

Two community groups in the area have now put out a “call to action” and plan to protest in front of San Francisco City Hall on June 24, asking for independent retesting, access for outside experts, long-term health monitoring and health reparations, among other demands.