Mural paints picture of concern
Leaders of the San Francisco neighborhood that sees more motor oil illegally dumped in its gutters and vacant lots than any other place in the city are turning to a new tactic to halt the hazardous practice — art.
A massive mural unveiled Thursday in the Bayview district aims to curb the practice of dumping waste into one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
The 100- foot- long community mural — created by funds from a state grant — is a dramatic depiction of the mass amounts of oil leaking into San Francisco Bay and its ill effects on marine life. City officials at the unveiling said it’s partially an advertisement for 311, which people can call to report illegal dumping.
“It’s a beautiful mural,” said Debbie Raphael, director of the city Department of the Environment. “But it’s talking about something ugly.”
City officials and community members say it’s typically businesses from outside the area doing the dumping.
“They come from everywhere,” said lifelong Bayview resident Bernard Robinson, 68, just as a man walked by and threw a bag of garbage onto the sidewalk. “See? They don’t care. They don’t keep the community clean.”
City officials estimate that between 2012 and 2014, clean- up crews collected more than 6,000 gallons of abandoned motor oil from across San Francisco, half of which was found in the Bayview. Personnel in the Public Works Department have gone as far as conducting latenight stakeouts to find out who’s behind the dumping, Raphael said.
Just a gallon of motor oil that makes its way into the ocean can pollute millions of gallons of water, Raphael said. She called the practice “careless and lazy” given the multitude of places — three in the Bayview — where people can legally dispose of motor oil.
“That’s not right,” said Cameron Moberg, the muralist. “Every time you come to the neighborhood you see it.”
Reginald Daniels, 65, who has lived in the neighborhood his whole life, said motor oil is just one of many hazards in the area. He said he has seen green toxic sludge on the ground near the waterfront. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E- mail: kveklerov@ sfchronicle. com Twitter: @ kveklerov