Cleanup Project Finds Home at Point

Five large patches of garbage, called gyres, swirl around the earth’s oceans. The largest clogs aquatic life in the Pacific Ocean. The Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch nonprofit, founded by Boyan Slat when he was just 18 years old, has designed a system to help clean up that mass of refuse and debris. 

The tour operator of a seaplane who landed at Alameda Point found himself in hot water with the city recently. A 1992 Piper single-engine seaplane landed and took off twice in the harbor near the USS Hornet Museum on Saturday, Feb. 3. The plane’s identification was reported to the city by the Alameda Point Harbor Seal Monitors. The group had photographed the same plane in October after it landed near the harbor seal float.

On Feb. 14, the City of Alameda sent a cease-and-desist letter and notice of trespass to Saul Singer, who operates Sea Plane Adventures of Mill Valley. 

Alameda is taking steps toward a bright future at Alameda Point. However, the city continues to stumble on the former Naval Air Station’s deteriorating infrastructure. The latest tripping stone centers on 75-year-old drains serving brand-new tenants.

At the center is a consent decree that the city signed in 2014. At question is whether that decree requires the city to take a “replace-as-you-go” tack as it sails toward completion of Alameda Point. Or does it allow a build-now, replace-the-drains-later plan?

Housing, new tenant, improvements scheduled for Point

The city has announced it is moving forward with bringing affordable housing to Alameda Point. In addition, the city said that a forward-looking Oakland company is coming to the Point and improvements to the infrastructure there are moving forward.  

The Alameda Point water that was contaminated with non-potable water last week has been deemed safe for drinking, cooking and bathing by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) Division of Drinking Water. The Alameda Point do-not-drink advisory was lifted Friday.

The Alameda Police Department (APD) released a Nixle report stating, “The water once again matches the East Bay Municipal Utility District’s (EBMUD) high-quality water supply consistent with other areas outside of the Alameda Point water system.”

Alameda techonology company Saildrone has produced a sailing robot at Alameda Point. The National Oceanic and Atomospheric Administration (NOAA) will use the drone to study sealife. NOAA will distribute five of the unmanned vehicles to track melting ice, measure carbon dioxide levels in the ocean and count numbers of fish and sea mammals.