State Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced Wednesday that metal recycling company Schnitzer Steel will pay $4.1 million to settle claims that the firm released hazardous waste from its facility in West Oakland.
The settlement — reached with Becerra’s office, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control — requires Schnitzer to pay penalties and for environmental cleanup projects that benefit the community. The company must also make significant changes to its Oakland facility to control any further toxic emissions. Schnitzer is headquartered in Oregon.
Schnitzer’s alleged violations included the release of toxic air contaminants and hazardous particulates into West Oakland and the Oakland Estuary, according to the attorney general’s office. The company’s West Oakland facility shreds and sorts metal materials, including vehicles and appliances.
“Communities in West Oakland already experience a disproportionate share of environmental pollution and some of the highest asthma rates in the state,” Becerra said in a statement. “So we won’t sit back while corporate polluters make the situation worse by dispersing their toxic waste into these neighborhoods and surrounding waters. … This settlement should serve as a warning to any company that believes it can put profits ahead of people.”
A Schnitzer spokesperson said in an email that the company denied emitting toxic air contaminants and said there has been “no evidence that emissions from the Oakland facility pose a risk to public health and welfare.”
The company’s emission-control systems were effective, the spokesperson said, adding that Schnitzer’s Oakland facility, “contrary to the attorney general’s press release,” does not emit harmful levels of toxic contaminants, “and we dispute the matters alleged in the complaint.”
In 2012, the Alameda County district attorney and state officials launched an investigation into the surrounding area of the Schnitzer recycling center at 1101 Embarcadero West.
The investigation determined that the light, fibrous material dispersed from the facility to nearby properties contained concentrations of lead, zinc and copper and exceeded the state’s hazardous waste regulatory thresholds.
In response, Schnitzer agreed to remove accumulations of the hazardous materials from surrounding properties, storm drains in the area and the shoreline. The company also built enclosures for its machinery, including the shredder, to minimize chances of hazardous particulates spilling outside the facility, according to the settlement.
But problems with the facility’s handling of hazardous waste continued, according to state officials.
In 2019, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District informed Schnitzer that emissions from the center’s shredder were violating the air district’s regulations, according to the settlement agreement.
Ken Mifsud, an attorney with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, said a settlement was reached before any legal action was taken. Mifsud said his office began meeting with Schnitzer in 2014 over health concerns and has been working with the facility over the past seven years to bring it into compliance.
“As a result of this settlement, Schnitzer will address a root cause of pollution that has impacted West Oakland for years,” said District Attorney Nancy O’Malley. “My office will always take action and work collaboratively to protect the community from illegal operations that negatively impact the health of our community members and the health of our environment.”
The settlement requires Schnitzer to pay $1.55 million in civil penalties, $450,000 for reimbursement of investigative and enforcement costs and $2.1 million for environmental projects that benefit communities in West Oakland.
That includes $673,000 to the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, a community-based environmental justice nonprofit organization, to install air filtration systems and ventilation upgrades to three Oakland community centers, and $94,000 to the Prescott-Joseph Center, a nonprofit, to fund a mobile pediatric asthma clinic.
The settlement comes nearly six months after the A’s sued the state Department of Toxic Substances Control over alleged pollution at Schnitzer Steel’s metal shredding facility.
The Schnitzer recycling center is next to Howard Terminal, where the A’s have proposed a new ballpark, housing and offices — which Schnitzer Steel and other shipping and trucking groups oppose.
The settlement is not expected to impact the A’s lawsuit.
Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SarRavani
