Urban Biofilter

Ecological Masterplanning: Port Expansion

admin — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 20:45:08 +0000

The Redevelopment of over three hundred acres of former Army Base land in West Oakland stands at a critical juncture. The City and Port of Oakland have received several phases of Federal TIGER grants for redevelopment of the former Army Base Land into a major Port expansion and freight train station.

Simultaneously, Caltrans and its partners in the Bay Bridge Reconstruction are planning a Gateway Park where the bay bridge will ‘touch-down’ in Oakland. Additionally, a 30 acre City-owned Parcel next to EBMUD, is also being investigated as a recycling industrial park. All in all, there are over 400 acres, on the West Oakland waterfront that will be developed in the near future.

Unless we direct the planning processes surrounding these developments along our Bay coastline at this important point in the development process toward ecological infrastructural solutions to the complex ecological, health, and socio-economic problems facing Oakland, an inappropriate, business-as-usual approach to development could overshadow creative, ecological solutions at a highly opportune time for Oakland to implement such creative measures.

Ecological Masterplanning

The community of West Oakland is immediately adjacent to one of the largest ports on the Pacific Coast and the city’s residents already suffer from the highest rates of asthma in California caused by air pollution from the Port. Without mitigation, the increased heat severity and frequency of heat waves associated with climate change will only compound these statistics. West Oakland is also especially vulnerable to flooding associated with sea level rise caused by climate change and exacerbated by inappropriate coastal infrastructure development strategies.

Our masterplanning for West Oakland and the Army Base Redevelopment integrates with the City of Oakland and the City of Berkeley Climate Action Planning, and proposes Low Impact Development solutions, which would control against flooding, filter diesel particulate matter from the air, and absorb and long-term sequester CO2 through ecologically sustainable and appropriate means. The plan will analyze the potential for and propose wetland and ocean setbacks, ecological bank stabilization designs including living seawalls, various coastal ecological buffers, living erosion control mechanisms, and air and stormwater biofilters that integrate with proposed new shipping, bike, and pedestrian corridors as well as existing transportation and shipping routes for the Army Base Redevelopment.

Project Goals and Priorities

Quantification of environmental impacts of the port expansion and the surrounding highway system.
Quantification of mitigation measures & remediation solutions
Documentation, catalogue, and mapping of Green Infrastructure Development Areas.
Visualization and integration of Ecological Development Strategies with the Oakland Global Masterplan for the Army Base Redevelopment
Proposal of appropriate alterations to current Oakland Global infrastructure design and planning in line with Ecological Development Strategies.
Development of a methodology for fluid interagency cooperation on implementation of Ecological Development Strategies
Development of industrial and freeway focused Green Streets Standards for city approval
Development of a business plan for the development of a municipal-scale job creating, revenue generating, urban forest in West Oakland.

Conceptual Mapping

Predicted flood zones in West Oakland following a 150cm sea level rise, in accordance with many climate change predictions for the next 50 – 100 years.

Heat map depicting air quality around West Oakland. Darker colors represent higher diesel particulate matter concentrations.

Dark pink areas show the worst air pollution immediately surrounding the Army Base Redevelopment Area while the lighter shades show the air pollution plume over West Oakland from the shipping operations at the Port of Oakland.

The green circles depict potential greenbelt planting and stormwater bioretention areas along transportation and shipping lines, utilizing otherwise marginalized space within the overall development scheme.

Community Participatory Design & Planning

Ecological Infrastructure and Sustainable Development Alliance

We are currently building the foundation for an intensive community participatory design process for the Army Base Redevelopment Plan and West Oakland Redevelopment Area. This process will include the establishment of an Ecological Infrastructure and Sustainable Development Alliance for the Masterplanning, Approval, Implementation, and Environmental Impact Review processes made up of community and regional experts. A major component of this project will include the convening of design charrettes and round table discussions made up of local community group representatives, stakeholders, and relevant specialists who will together draft and propose specific ecological infrastructure design and planning elements to be implemented throughout the redevelopment process.

We will consult community, academic, business, and government specialists on specific topics deemed critical by the team to creating a successful ecological development plan. These topics will provide the basis for charrettes and discussion groups.

Example Topics:

Port, Transportation and Air Quality
Public Health, Pollution and Toxicity Mitigation
Ecological Infrastructure Design and Climate Change Preparedness
Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, and Residential Real Estate
Stormwater, Wastewater, Potable, and Reclaimed Water Use
Public Utility Integration, Alternative/Community Energy Production, Community Choice Aggregation
Urban Forestry, City Planning, Urban Horticulture, Community Education

Based on these community design charrettes and discussions, we will work to integrate ecological design and development strategies into the Army Base Redevelopment/Port Expansion. We will produce a final report with our agglomerated recommendations for the Master Plan and EIR processes.

If you or your organization would like to be involved in these discussions, please sign up for our email list below, contact us, and check back here for continuing updates as we move forward in the coming months.

Mobile Biofiltration – Greenbelts & Wetlands

admin — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 01:54:30 +0000

We have developed our Mobile Biofiltration Systems around three principles: modular design allowing for easy expansion and transportation; system mobility, creating highly adaptive design methodology for any construction project; and upcycling of containers otherwise headed for the waste stream.

These Mobile Biofiltation Systems sit above the surface, removing the necessity of ground penetration and any potential associated permitting or groundwater intrusion problems from the installation process. Our mobile greenbelt and constructed wetland systems are designed to integrate providing multiple ecosystem services for air and water remediation and wastestream filtration at the commercial or municipal scale.

Greenbelts

Wetlands

The West Oakland Greenbelt Campaign

admin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:50:00 +0000

Urban Biofilter’s West Oakland Greenbelt Project would use marginalized and contaminated land to strategically plant greenbelts along West Oakland transportation routes and downwind of stationary pollution sources.

Greenbelts are proven to be highly effective windscreens and have a great capacity to sequester carbon, produce oxygen and remove Particulate Matter. Greenbelts can also mitigate noise pollution and provide visual relief from highways and industrial areas.

City-scale urban forestry projects like those envisioned by Urban Biofilter can remove SO2, NOx, CO, CO2, Ozone, PAH & other VOCs, as well as Particulate Matter and metals from contaminated air-sheds and have been shown to capture at least 15 kilograms per day per square kilometer of PM10. Strong rhizomatic root systems can be utilized for erosion control and planters can filter and treat stormwater. It’s the fastest-growing plant you can use to reforest an area, and it produces 35% more oxygen than an equally-sized batch of trees and can sequester 5 times the amount carbon dioxide. Unlike most trees which need to be cut down, bamboo can be harvested without damaging the original plant, and it then regenerates in three to five years. Unlike most trees which take 25 years or longer to achieve maximum pollution filtration, in only a few years the Urban Biofilter can effectively improve air quality, reduce storm water runoff, and provide quantifiable ecosystem benefits.

While the Port of Oakland and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) are working to improve emissions standards and mitigation requirements, these reductions and alternative vehicle plans are long-term and costly, and the impact on West Oakland residents’ health won’t be felt for at least 20-30 years.

Our masterplanning for West Oakland and the former Army Base Redevelopment proposes Low Impact Development solutions, which would control against flooding in our highly floodprone area. The plan will analyze and propose various ecological buffers, wetland and ocean setbacks, and ecological bank stabilization designs for the former Army Base Redevelopment, affecting 300 acres along the bay waterfront. These mitigation measures will be more effective than mechanical stormwater management systems as they work synergistically with as well as support already existing wetlands and ecosystems in the area which will be facing destruction by flooding and saltwater intrusion from climate change. Our plan also will analyze and recommend species lists which will be compared against temperature, rainfall and other climate predictions.

We serve on a Rainwater and Greywater Taskforce with the East Bay Municipal Utility District. We are pursuing more extensive collaboration with East Bay MUD regarding green infrastructure strategies for utilizing city reclaimed water, also known as purple pipe, for irrigation and integration into our Urban Forestry projects. We have been very well received in our presentation of Urban Biofilter concepts to a group of 50 EBMUD engineers and are eager to further engage EBMUD staff to integrate reclaimed water standards into the Urban Biofilter’s irrigation requirements as well as pursue and assess pilot projects for wastewater reuse.

Local Jobs and Urban Timber

admin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:31:00 +0000

Jobs Training programs present solutions for West Oakland and similar urban communities including poverty alleviation, employment, pollution mitigation and environmental justice, but the scope of existing programs should be more complex and greatly expanded to include training in horticulture and restoration.

In 2000 the unemployment rate in West Oakland was 18.3%. Since that time, these rates have gone up dramatically. The bioremediative horticulture and green infrastructure sector we are developing is an untapped and highly necessary area of employment and poverty alleviation; Oakland and other Urban youth and residents would be prepared to enter jobs in the fields of sustainable landscaping, urban agriculture, water retrofits to increase water efficiency and conservation, bioremediative plant propagation and harvesting, urban timber harvesting, alternative sustainable construction methods, data collection and analysis, community organizing, as well as parks and open space maintenance and expansion.

Green Collar Jobs

For the green job training aspect of the project we are developing a green infrastructure curriculum for Merritt College. By leveraging teacher’s salaries and small materials budgets we will be able to get started while we seek funding to develop a more comprehensive training program, which would incorporate local organizations with related experience.

We have an able workforce from Merritt College and two classes of 35 students each per semester, which can be relocated from the Merritt campus in the Oakland hills to the flats of West Oakland. Over a three years, we plan to develop a Green Jobs Training Program in eco-landscaping where young people will gain transferable skills while working on real projects in their community. Participating students will be receive training in a college-level program in job-skills, urban gardening, eco-literacy, propagation, installation of plants, irrigation design and implementation, root barrier installation, bioremediation, water efficiency and landscape maintenance.

Through the Peralta community college system we have an opportunity to build on the successful systems and infrastructure that Laney College has developed for Green Collar Job training programs. While Laney College has focused on preparing youth for jobs in construction and solar PV installation, Merritt College Landscape/Horticulture Department has spent the last decade developing an innovative Eco-Landscaping and permaculture curriculum. Through the development of a Green Jobs Training program in Eco-Landscaping, coupled with cutting-edge research in bioremediation, a Merritt College program based in West Oakland would address urban ecological injustice, while propelling the environmental movement forward.

Urban Timber

Urban Biofilter could potentially help Oakland become the leader of a new Urban Timber industry. One of our primary and most effective bioremediative plants for air and water filtration and erosion control is bamboo. The bamboo trade is estimated by some to be over $10 billion per year. Over 20 million tons of bamboo are collected and harvested per year, primarily by people without economic means. Our Greenbelts and Propagation facilities would produce incredibly versatile plant materials which could be used in framing construction, turned into composite building materials, furniture, flooring, biofuel, charcoal, bicycle frames, and many other value-added products. Over a billion people in the world live in homes made of bamboo. A large scale urban bamboo forestry project would provide stable green collar jobs for the community of West Oakland, create a new sustainable source of city revenue, and fashion a model for urban timber production in other cities. Sourcing timber from within the city limits would be a major shift in resource management and economics toward sustainability.

Greenbelt Demonstration at The Port of Oakland

admin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:29:00 +0000

Urban Biofilter has partnered with Merritt College, the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, Oakland Maritime Support Services and OT-411 (Oakland Trucker-411) to launch a micro-industrial, urban greenbelt demonstration project at the Port of Oakland.

Our inaugural bamboo planting in August, 2009 occured at the central hub of independent West Oakland truckers, OT-411, which provides rest-stop facilities, services, and parking for truckers and is housing the outreach and testing space for several local non-profits focused on air quality issues. This bamboo planting sets a precedent in facilitating collaboration between environmentalists and industry and by helping truckers mitigate their impact on the air quality of West Oakland by opening up space for them to park off residential streets.

From This:

To This:

Urban Biofilter has created multiple micro-industrial bamboo plantations strategically located to demonstrate filtration of air pollution from transportation and industry. These projects demonstrate how untapped local resources, including treated wastewater and the opportunities presented by vacant lots, can be used to improve quality of life in neighborhoods that face the most acute health problems from air pollution.

Tijuana Biofilter

admin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:27:41 +0000

In Summer, 2009 Urban Biofilter joined the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Earth Island Institute’s Restoration Initiative on a binational project to restore the Tijuana River Estuary Watershed.

Urban Biofilter hosted a 30-person workshop in the Tijuana neighborhood of San Bernardo to help restore the flow of water to the local river system. As is the case with many of the informal settlements in the area, San Bernardo does not have a centralized sewage treatment system. This means that wastewater from San Bernardo simply drains through the streets to the Tijuana River Estuary, one of the last 24 estuaries remaining in the country. Each side street becomes a tributary to the main street, Calle Amanecer, which eventually flows to the estuary, dramatically impacting the water quality and aquatic ecosystem. These open channels also pose a serious health concern, as a vector for contamination, putting the local people at a greater risk of contracting hepatitis and staph infections, mosquito-borne diseases, and diarrhea.

In the course of the workshop, participants lined the channel with gravel to reduce human exposure to the water, and replanted the surrounding area with locally collected native willows to provide a natural air filter. The group also planted a small pilot crop of local bamboo.

Unlike other restoration groups working in the area, Urban Biofilter brings a holistic approach to restoration and water management. Working with communities who do not have access to municipal wastewater treatment systems to build decentralized waste treatment wetlands and ecological sanitation systems, which have the ability to yield building materials, which are in high demand. Now, Urban Biofilter is advocating for the expansion of this pilot project to address the wastewater infrastructure for the 1.2 million Tijuana residents who live in communities with currently inadequate wastewater management systems.