John Muir's Martinez — An EnviroJustice Documentary Film Project
Martinez, California is a small town of just under 40,000 people on the northern tip of the San Francisco East Bay. Originally established in 1849 as a way station for the California Gold Rush, Martinez became the Contra Costa county seat in 1850, but could not incorporate at the time because it lacked the 200 registered voters required. The town couldn't incorporate until 1876. In many respects it still retains its small-town charm. Rumor has it that it has the only MacDonalds in the country that is closed nights and on Sundays.
Martinez has several claims to fame. Some consider it the birthplace of the martini cocktail and it definitely is the birthplace of Joe DiMaggio.
Today, if one were to stand on the large hill rising up in the middle of Martinez, California and look to the west one would look down upon the home of John Muir, noted naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club. Martinez was the home of John Muir from 1880 until his death in 1914. He was buried about one mile south of the building that is now the John Muir National Historic Site.
Run by the National Park Service, the site preserves the Victorian residence and a part of the fruit ranch where Muir and his family lived from 1890 to his death in 1914. While living in Martinez, Muir laid the foundations for the creation of the National Park Service in 1916. Visitors today can tour the home, see Muir's "scribble-den" where he wrote his various conservation articles and books, and stroll the orchards.
On full moons during the summer, visitors are led on a hike up Mount Wanda, named after his daughter, where John would hike and is buried nearby.
But, standing on that same hill in the middle of town if you look to the east you will see oil refineries, chemical plants, and Superfund sites nestled into residential neighborhoods and adjacent to schools.
In 1915 Shell Oil Company built an oil refinery near Martinez, which sparked a building boom in the area. Martinez's oil refineries can still be seen today from Interstate 680 and the Benicia Bridge, and it continues to be a significant port and petroleum processing center.
This hour-long documentary will examine the challenges a community like Martinez, including its faith communities, faces in creating and maintaining a toxic-free, economically sustainable community in the light of its treasured heritage.
The documentary will also look at how one of the city's neighbors is handling new development on the site of the former Concord Naval Weapons Station on the border between Martinez and the city of Concord.
The Concord Naval Weapons Station is one of the largest remaining developable areas in the San Francisco Bay Area. Consisting of more than 5,000 acres, much of the former weapons station is relatively pristine rolling hills visible from Highways 4 and 242. In addition, Mount Diablo Creek, the last freely flowing creek in Contra Costa County, flows right through the heart of the military base. The cold clean water of this stream attracts salmon and trout, among many other species.
There are a number of competing ideas about how to develop the property. Environmental groups such as Greenbelt Alliance are developing a joint platform with other environmental organizations that would address the location and amount of open space, the type and number of new houses, the transportation system, and many other factors. Faith-based organizations such as the Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County are also involved.
The U.S. Navy is now proposing to bypass the city and trade the land to a consulting company directly, to be developed without public input.