Stege Marsh
Encyclopedia
Stege Marsh also known as the South Richmond Marshes is a polluted tidal marshland wetlands area in Richmond, California
in western Contra Costa County
.
also known as Stege Creek, especially at this location. That creek drains from a watershed extending into the Berkeley Hills
in El Cerrito
. The marsh is opposite Meeker Slough
from where Meeker Slough Creek
drains into Campus Bay
a baylet of the Richmond Inner Harbor
of the San Francisco Bay
.
The site is polluted from a former UC Berkeley Field Station and a Zeneca sulfuric acid manufacturing center but restoration is underway. In fact the marsh is so polluted that in 1998 the San Francisco Bay Area Regional Water Quality Control Board named it a "toxic hot spot" and one of the "top 10 most polluted" sites in the Bay Area
. The contamination includes dangerous levels of toxic chemicals and organic compounds such as: Arsenic, mercury and PCBs
.
Some activists such as Citizens for East Shore Parks and Eastshore State Park
itself would like to see it added to the latter.
Richmond, California
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...
in western Contra Costa County
Contra Costa County, California
Contra Costa County is a primarily suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,049,025...
.
Overview
The marsh is the delta at the mouth of Baxter CreekBaxter Creek
Baxter Creek or Stege Creek , is a three-branch creek in Richmond and El Cerrito, California, United States forming the Baxter Creek watershed. The creek has three sources and flows from the Berkeley Hills to Stege Marsh and the San Francisco Bay...
also known as Stege Creek, especially at this location. That creek drains from a watershed extending into the Berkeley Hills
Berkeley Hills
The Berkeley Hills are a range of the Pacific Coast Ranges that overlook the northeast side of the valley that surrounds San Francisco Bay. They were previously called the "Contra Costa Range/Hills" , but with the establishment of Berkeley and the University of California, the current usage was...
in El Cerrito
El Cerrito, California
-Transportation:The city's primary transportation infrastructure consists of the El Cerrito Plaza and El Cerrito del Norte BART stations along with several local bus lines, operated by AC Transit, providing access to the surrounding area and the nearby cities of Albany, Berkeley and Richmond...
. The marsh is opposite Meeker Slough
Meeker Slough
Meeker Slough is a slough in Richmond, California formed by a creek of the same name and drains into the Richmond Inner Harbor, part of San Francisco Bay...
from where Meeker Slough Creek
Meeker Slough (Creek)
Meeker Slough is a creek in Richmond, California that drains from the flatlands of the Marina Bay neighborhood. It empties into Meeker Slough, a marsh of the same name which empties into Campus Bay in the Richmond Inner Harbor...
drains into Campus Bay
Campus Bay
Campus Bay is a baylet of the Richmond Inner Harbor in Richmond, California formed by conflicting drainage on opposite ends from Meeker Slough Creek and Baxter Creek's deltas Meeker Slough and Stege Marsh. The area is formed of intertidal mud flats which are generally submerged except for the...
a baylet of the Richmond Inner Harbor
Richmond Inner Harbor
Richmond Inner Harbor is a deepwater body of water in Richmond, California. The harbor lies between Ferry Point and Point Isabel, between the mainland and Brooks Island in western Contra Costa County along the East Bay's northern East Shore...
of the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
.
The site is polluted from a former UC Berkeley Field Station and a Zeneca sulfuric acid manufacturing center but restoration is underway. In fact the marsh is so polluted that in 1998 the San Francisco Bay Area Regional Water Quality Control Board named it a "toxic hot spot" and one of the "top 10 most polluted" sites in the Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. The contamination includes dangerous levels of toxic chemicals and organic compounds such as: Arsenic, mercury and PCBs
Polychlorinated biphenyl
Polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic compounds with 2 to 10 chlorine atoms attached to biphenyl, which is a molecule composed of two benzene rings. The chemical formula for PCBs is C12H10-xClx...
.
Some activists such as Citizens for East Shore Parks and Eastshore State Park
Eastshore State Park
Eastshore State Park is a state park and wildlife refuge along the San Francisco Bay shoreline of the East Bay between the cities of Richmond, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, and Oakland. It encompasses remnant natural wetlands, restored wetlands as well as landfill west of the Eastshore Freeway. It...
itself would like to see it added to the latter.