SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) -- Residents of San Francisco's Bayview District are expressing concern about community involvement in the ongoing toxic cleanup and  redevelopment of the former U.S. Navy shipyard at Hunters Point at a Board of  Supervisors committee hearing.

The Government Audit and Oversight Committee Thursday afternoon passed  a resolution authored by Supervisor John Avalos calling on the Navy to  reconsider its plan to dissolve the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) for  Hunters Point.

The Navy earlier this year sent a notice of its intention to end  the committee, which includes members of the Bayview community, Navy  officials and environmental regulators and met regularly to discuss the  ongoing cleanup efforts of the 900-acre former shipyard, which was found to  be contaminated by toxic metals and petroleum waste.

Some residents blame the contamination for higher incidences of  cancer and asthma in the community.

The Navy said the meetings had taken on a "hostile tone," and  rules of order were not followed, according to Amy Brownell, a San Francisco  Department of Public Health environmental engineer and former RAB member, who  said today she agreed with the Navy's perspective.

Other concerns cited by the Navy included lack of diverse input  from the community at the meetings, and that the meetings' focus drifted from  cleanup to redevelopment and other issues, Brownell said.

Redevelopment plans include thousands of new housing units, parks  and a possible new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers.

Leon Mohammad, a former RAB co-chair, told the committee today  that he believes the Navy's decision was politically motivated and  retaliatory against some members "for raising legitimate concerns on behalf  of the Bayview-Hunters Point community."

But Mohammad said the advisory board was necessary to ensure the  cleanup effort was responsive to the community's needs.

Minister Christopher Muhammad said the cleanup had been corrupted  by "greedy developers and political expediency."

Some residents have charged that a plan by San Francisco city  officials to make an early transfer of some portions of the cleanup site from  the Navy to the city in late 2010 is motivated more by concerns about  developing the land than about residents' health.

"They'll clean it up, at some point, but at what cost to the  existing population?" asked Muhammad.

San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development  Director Michael Cohen insisted at the hearing that effective cleanup of the  early transfer parcels would be completed.

Cohen said the early transfers were "suggested to us by the  federal EPA" and called the idea that the transfers would come at the cost of  removal of ground contamination an "unfortunate misconception."

Avalos has planned a future hearing on the proposed early transfer  of lands. The RAB resolution will move to the full board on Nov. 17.

"I think there's been real questions ... the Navy has been real  arrogant in running the meetings," Avalos said after Thursday's hearing.

"But they have to take in information that they might not  necessarily like to hear," he said.

There was no Navy representative at the hearing, and a  spokesperson did not immediately return a call for comment.

On the early transfer proposal, Avalos said he believes  "development is driving it."

"It should be the general safety of people, that drives this," he  said.

(Copyright 2009, Bay City News, All rights reserved.)