Ursula Sherman Transitional Housing Project 711 Harrison Street expansion
This housing project raises the issue of environmental
justice as perhaps no other property in Berkeley. More than a year ago
the California Air Resource Board (CARB) began discussions regarding
environmental justice as reflected in AB 1553. BOSS consultants were
asked to address this concern over locating residents in close proximity
to industrial facilities and uses that contain or produce materials
that will contain or produce materials that because of its quantity,
concentrations or physical or chemical characteristics, poses a significant
hazard to human health Where is this evaluation?
 There are many alternatives to the location of the proposed
housing project. The placement of this housing project should be considered
in a broader context of the county. Certainly many of Alameda County's
clients will be directed to the proposed transitional housing in Berkeley.
Has anyone asked the County of Alameda for input? Currently the county
reports that they have over 50,000 children at risk for asthma or other
respiratory ailments. Remember, the particulate matter at the proposed
site exceeded the state standard of 50 ug/m3 for more than a third of
the year!
 The consultant for the BOSS project
began the site evaluation headed in the wrong direction. Early in the
project, consultants argued that they should perform a comparative analysis
of other similar sites instead of a health risk analysis based on past
collected air data at the Harrison site. This flawed approach was also
seen in the housing proposal's focus on the City of Berkeley Transfer
Station as the most significant air borne pollutant source affecting
the Ursula Sherman Village.
This approach has caused the BOSS proposal/evaluation to fall short
of answering the critical questions which this legal environmental review
and use permit demand. I ask that this project not be approved. We should
Encourage BOSS to relocate this much needed housing
project to a more appropriate and healthy site.
West Berkeley Air Monitoring Studies & Risk Assessments |
- NEW West Berkeley Community Monitoring Project
Global Community Monitor
- NEW: Chart of West Berkeley Air Pollution Sources
California Air Resources Board 2005 data for industrial facilities in zip code 94710
- Ambient Air Pollution and Health Risks at Harrison Street
Acurex Environmental Corporation, December 10, 1997
- West Berkeley Air Monitoring Part 1, West Berkeley Air Monitoring Part 2
Applied Measurement Science, September 6, 2000
- PM10 Monitoring at the Berkeley Recycling Center Materials Recovery Facility
July, 2002 to January, 2003 Applied Measurement Science
- Berkeley Solid Waste Management Transfer Station Air Quality Evaluation and Recommended Mitigation Measures, ESA Environmental Science Associates, April 29, 2003
- Update on Air Quality at the proposed site of the Ursula Sherman Village
Prepared for: Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency, September 30, 2002
- Harrison Soccer Fields Air Study Part 1, and Harrison Soccer Fields Air Study Part 2
Applied Measurement Science, June 2003
- Qualitative Human Health Risk Assessment For Airborne Particulate Matter at Harrison Street Park
Charles E. Lambert Ph.D. DABT McDaniel Lambent, Inc. April 25, 2003
- Assessment and Recommendations re: Air Quality at Harrison Play Fields project
Date: October 25, 1999 Poki Namkung, M.D., M.P.H., City of Berkeley Health Officer
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MORE on the Ursula Sherman Transitional Housing Project |
- NEW West Berkeley's Air Quality: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
L A Wood, Berkeley Daily Planet August 28, 2007
- Comments to the 711 Harrison Street-Expansion of Homeless Shelter (Ursula Sherman Village) & Notice for Preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Report No. F-8977-03
L A Wood, January 17, 2003
- Environmental Impact Report 711 Harrison Street
Action Calendar City of Berkeley February 11, 2003
- Preliminary Assessment of Air Quality for the Proposed Site of the Ursula Sherman Village
Environ, February 14, 2002
- Critics Charge Bad Air Poisons Housing Proposal
John Geluardi, Berkeley Daily Planet, June 6, 2003
- Comments to 711 Harrison
Street expansion of Homeless Shelter Environmental Impact Report"
L A Wood, July 7, 2003
- CEQA FINDINGS: SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES July 24, 2003
711 Harrison Street Ursula Sherman Village Use Permit 02-10000017 (excerpts) July 24, 2003
- Permit Streamlining & Boss Ursula Sherman Transitional Housing Use Permit
L A Wood , July 29, 2003
- Ursula Sherman Transitional Housing Zoning
Mitigations for Air Quality
Zoning Adjustments Board Decision Date: 07-24-03 USE PERMIT: #02-10000017
- Harrison House Expansion
L A Wood, February 5, 2002 letter to Berkeley City Council
- Harrison House, Ursula Sherman Village Housing Project
L A Wood December 17, 2001
- Housing Advisory Commission & Ursula Sherman Village Project
L A Wood, December 6, 2001
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California State Assembly Bill 1553 (Keeley, 2001) required the Office of Planning and Research to establish guidelines for incorporating environmental justice into the general plans adopted by cities and counties.
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