Margaret Gordon, co-founder
and director of West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (left) and Brian
Beveridge, co-founder and director of finance & operations of WOEIP at the
group's headquarters in Oakland, Calif. on Aug 17, 2023. WOEIP is an
environmental justice org that has raised concerns about Schnitzer Steel’s
scrapyard fires located in West Oakland. Credit: Amir Aziz.
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Two
weeks ago, Margaret Gordon noticed a peculiar smell in West Oakland, like
burning rubber and cigarettes. When she learned a fire had broken out at the
Schnitzer Steel facility, she thought, “Here we go again.”
“It
was just a matter of time,” Gordon told The Oaklandside. “It was an incident
waiting to happen.”
Gordon
is the co-founder of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP),
a group that has monitored and fought air pollution in the city’s majority Black
and Latino neighborhoods next to the port since 2012. Almost since its
inception, WOEIP has paid close attention to Schnitzer Steel—a scrap metal
processing facility on the waterfront that is also close to daycare centers,
parks, senior centers, and hospitals.
The August 9 fire that spewed a noxious
plume of smoke over much of the East Bay was not the first conflagration at
Schnitzer. Fires were reported in 2020, 2018, 2010, and 2009. After the 2018
fire, state inspectors found high levels of
lead, copper, and zinc in burned residue. The cause of the latest fire, which
occurred in a tin and light iron pile, is still under investigation. A
spokesperson for Oakland Fire Department said Schnitzer workers claim these
types of ignitions are typically caused by lithium-ion batteries, the kinds
that are used nowadays to power electric vehicles, bikes, and scooters.
Schnitzer
spokesperson Eric Potashner said the company, which recently rebranded as Radius
Recycling, is reviewing its fire prevention protocols to figure out
what went wrong.
Potashner
said Schnitzer has already invested over $50 million in equipment to address
air emissions and stormwater runoff, and will continue to improve its
operations.
“Right
now there’s a legitimate level of skepticism, of frustration, with our
operation,” Potashner said. “We’re doing everything we can to get
better.”
Regulators
have repeatedly cited and fined Schnitzer for releasing toxic air emissions and
other pollutants. In 2012, the Alameda County District Attorney investigated Schnitzer for releasing
hazardous waste and emissions in West Oakland, including lead, cadmium and
zinc. Nearly a decade later, Schnitzer agreed to pay $4.1 million to settle the multi-agency
lawsuit. The settlement was seen as a major victory for West Oakland residents,
who experience some of the highest levels of air pollution in
the Bay Area, due to their proximity to heavy industry.
As
part of the settlement, Schnitzer agreed to take proactive steps to prevent
future environmental contamination of West Oakland, including conducting
regular inspections around its facility to remove waste products and installing
state-of-the-art air pollution equipment. In a recent report, Schnitzer touted its upgraded
emissions control system in Oakland and said it is working toward a goal of 25%
emissions reductions company-wide by 2025. Potashner said the company is on
track to meet this milestone.
But
it’s unclear whether these steps have been enough. On July 31—a week before the
most recent fire—the California Attorney General warned Schnitzer that the
company was potentially violating its 2021 settlement agreement by
continuing to release hazardous material into West Oakland.
In a
letter, the state said data reported by Schnitzer shows that light fibrous
material from shredded vehicles continues to get carried in the wind out of the
facility, polluting nearby neighborhoods. The state said this material
contained concentrations of lead and zinc that exceeded hazardous waste
thresholds, and that Schnitzer has been finding and removing this material
since 2015.
“There
has been no indication or data presented to the People to conclusively show
that any modifications made to the facility have directly reduced the amount of
(material) being released,” the letter said.