Homeless claim that sewage is soiling city camp

Citing fecal contamination at a city-authorized camp, a contingent of homeless people in Sausalito has left it and reoccupied the site from which the group was evicted.

Robbie Powelson, an activist living with homeless campers, said a rancid and pungent fluid bubbled up at the city’s Marinship Park camp after the heavy storm in late October.

A few days after the storm, campers obtained tests from Brelje and Race Labs in Santa Rosa, Powelson said. The tests showed high fecal levels, and a set of follow-up tests Nov. 8 revealed even higher levels, he said.

The results prompted several campers to move back to the edge of Dunphy Park, where homeless people had occupied ground until the city forced them out. The site is now largely surrounded by chain-link fencing.

Some said they would risk arrest rather than return to a public health hazard from possible sewage flows elsewhere in town.

“We plan to hold it down,” Powelson said Tuesday. “The main thing is we need safety right now.”

Mayor Jill Hoffman said soil samples were taken at the Marinship Park camp last week, but results had not yet been returned. On Nov. 5, before those new samples were taken, she said the Sausalito Public Works Department did a full inspection of the public lavatories at Marinship Park and “found them to be fully operable with no leaks, hazards or safety concerns.”

“The position of Sausalito is the same,” she said Tuesday. “Dunphy Park is not the location of overnight rest for those experiencing homeless who have no alternative to sleeping indoors.”

About half a dozen campers came down with illnesses after the storm, Powelson said. At least three had staphylococcus-like infections, others had infections in cuts and one came down with symptoms of strep throat. Some sought treatment at hospitals and received antibiotics.

“For me, this is the safer move. I’d rather go to jail. I’d rather be in jail than be dead,” said Tim Logan, a homeless man who returned to Dunphy Park.

Logan said other campers might also relocate, some returning to Dunphy Park and others considering camps outside the Sausalito Police Department or City Hall. Others are staying put.

The homeless campers long have battled with officials over their residence in city parks. The city evicted campers from the Dunphy Park area in July because of health concerns and relocated them to Marinship Park.

The Marinship Park camp was severely damaged during the late-October storm, prompting some to build a structure intended for shelter during new storms. The city posted a stop-work order and intended to demolish it, but ultimately allowed it to stay up as storage.

Anthony Price, an attorney representing the homeless in an ongoing federal lawsuit, said there is a hearing scheduled for Dec. 9 to hold the city in contempt over its treatment of the homeless.

The campers were confronted by police officers Monday night and Tuesday morning, Logan said. Police did not forcibly remove them, cite or arrest them.

The Sausalito Police Department took a trespassing report Monday and referred it to the District Attorney’s Office with a request for charges.