Cities, Not Farms, At Fault For Bay Pollution

Cities, not the agriculture heavy Central Valley, are the source of most of the runoff and pollution that enters the San Francisco Bay, according to a new report.

1 minute read

October 6, 2010, 11:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg


Many had thought the Bay's pollution was heavily influenced by pesticides travelling through rivers from the Central Valley's agriculture industry. The new report points the blame mainly at cities for their urban runoff.

"City dwellers are also responsible for one of the newest scourges in the bay - the ubiquitous plastic shopping bag.

In its annual report card on the bay, the San Francisco Estuary Institute found that heavy loads of mercury and PCBs are flowing into San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun bays through the web of culverts and creeks that carry storm water from residential and industrial areas around the nine-county region."

Tuesday, October 5, 2010 in San Francisco Chronicle

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