Former Beach Street Manufactured Gas Plant–San Francisco

The former manufactured gas plant (MGP) operated near the intersection of Beach and Powell Streets in San Francisco, California. The plant was built between 1899 and 1900. PG&E acquired it in 1911. The plant produced gas for PG&E's customers until approximately 1931 when it was closed down. The gas holder and oil tanks continued to operate at the site until the mid-1950s when the property was sold and redeveloped for commercial use. A hotel currently occupies portions of the historic site.


As the site has been developed by others, environmental sampling and remediation have occurred on the property. In 2007, the San Francisco Department of Public Health issued a letter certifying characterization and cleanup efforts at the site. A land use covenant filed with the City and County of San Francisco ensures that current and future lessees of the property will adhere to proper practices when handling or disposing of any soil that may be disturbed when conducting construction activities at the site.


Under the oversight of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region (Water Board), PG&E is also working with the Port of San Francisco and regulatory agencies to dredge impacted sediments between Piers 39-43½ in San Francisco as sediments are impacted by the former gas plant as well as other operations in this area.

If you would like more information about our program, please call us at 1-415-973-0270.

Contact information

Contact information

For more information on former San Francisco MGP sites, please call: 415-973-0270
By email: remediation@pge.com.

Important health & safety information

Important health and safety information

There is no indication that PG&E's former MGP sites pose any health concerns to the public, based on our testing, experience, and extensive review of medical literature.