West Oakland residents, who live near a major highway, the port, and industrial facilities, have some of the highest rates of asthma and other respiratory diseases in the region.
State Assemblymember Mia Bonta, who represents West Oakland and the surrounding areas, decried the district attorney’s decision to drop the case against the company.
“Serial polluters shouldn’t be allowed to fill our lungs with hazardous waste, including lead, and get away with it with nothing more than a slap on the wrist,” Bonta said.
She noted that the company — which is located within a mile of 18 day care centers, 10 parks, eight schools and two hospitals — has been hit with 13 notices of violation from local air regulators since 2018.
“The repeated fires from this facility threaten the well-being of the entire Bay Area, particularly the surrounding community in Oakland,” Bonta added.
Past investigations by the Alameda County district attorney’s office and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control found that the facility released particulate matter contaminated with hazardous metals such as lead, cadmium and zinc. The investigations were cited in a 2021 settlement between Schnitzer and the state Department of Justice over “the release of toxic air contaminants and hazardous particulates” in West Oakland and across the Oakland Estuary.
“The DA’s office had a long history of negotiating settlements with Schnitzer and then not enforcing the settlements,” Price said, noting that Radius was shocked when her office set out to hold the company accountable.
The charges filed last year by Price’s office alleged that Radius Steel as well as Daniel Woltman and Dane Morales, the heads of the West Oakland facility, recklessly managed hazardous materials, elevating the risk of fire, and later destroyed evidence by cleaning up the 40-ton charred “tin pile” before prosecutors could inspect it to help build their case against the company.
The company and the two men were also charged with violating local air quality regulations and state toxic substance control laws.
The charges, which carried a penalty of up to $33 million in criminal fines and up to three years in county jail, were the first ever filed by an Alameda County district attorney for environmental crimes allegedly committed by a corporation, Price said at a press conference in July.
Price’s office first announced the investigation against the Oregon-based company days after the August 2023 blaze at its Oakland facility, which burned for more than 24 hours, shrouding the region in a gray smoky haze.
The fire started in a pile of scrap metal and was likely caused by a lithium battery, according to the Oakland Fire Department, whose crews were unable to reach the source of the blaze for hours due to the sheer size of the pile. County and city officials advised residents near the Port of Oakland to avoid Jack London Square and to keep their windows closed.
The West Oakland facility, which shreds cars and other large appliances, is one of at least four operated by Radius Recycling in California.
