Dear Members of the Land Use and Transportation Committee of the City and County of San Francisco:
We are deeply disappointed that you invited Tetra Tech EC to appear at the May 14, 2018 Land Use and Transportation Committee hearing and then would not let us speak to clear up the false allegations made by plaintiffs’ attorneys about the quality and safety of our work at Hunters Point Shipyard for the U.S. Navy.
Despite this, if the committee members listened carefully to the testimony of the Navy, EPA and City’s own Department of Public Health representatives, you would have heard that while there are questions about Hunters Point (created by self-interested plaintiffs), the reality is that our portion of the remediation of the shipyard is valid and safe. We stand by our work and that is why we have offered to have it re-tested at our expense by an independent expert.
The fraudulent activities were undertaken back in 2012 by former New World Technology employees who had joined Tetra Tech. These individuals acted on their own and without knowledge of senior management. Although the sampling irregularities were detected and corrected in 2012 (and documented in publicly available reports), with oversight and approval by the Navy and regulatory agencies, only recently has the actual illegal behavior of these individuals become known. Our piece in the San Francisco Chronicle sets forth the facts and should be useful to the Board in understanding the situation: https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Tetra-Tech-standsby-its-work-at-Hunters-Point-12923789.php
We understood that the May 14 hearing would be an opportunity to directly address the concerns of your constituents and we were prepared to do just that – to provide detailed information and to answer any and all questions. Unfortunately, the residents of Bayview-Hunters Point and the citizens of San Francisco were denied that very chance in favor of political grandstanding.
We believe the community and the public are interested in hearing the facts. We will continue to find other means to deliver those facts about our remediation at the shipyard. We hope you will be listening.
Sincerely,
Preston Hopson