Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price said the case against Radius Recycling was related last year’s huge scrap fire at its West Oakland facility, is coming along.
“There have been a number of proceedings since we filed a complaint in June and so we are hopefully at a point where the case is moving forward,” DA Price said.
This summer DA Prize Announced a grand jury had indicted Radius Recycling and two of its managers on several charges, including violations of the California Health and Safety Code.
The district attorney’s office alleges the company continued to collect scrap metal despite equipment failures in the days leading up to the fire.
When the fire ignited, prosecutors said it sent a plume of gray, toxic smoke throughout the region, raising the level of pollutants in the air from Oakland to Livermore.
“The impact of the toxins and the spread of the fire’s plume is now reflected in the graphs that we will make available to you at this point. The danger to the community, we are trying to address it quickly,” DA Price said.
The prosecutor presented a graph that she said shows where the pollutants were in the air at various locations in the province on the day of the fire.
One of the areas with the highest reading rates was nearby Laney College. KPIX went to campus to talk to students about the district attorney’s findings.
One student said she did not remember the fire, but she is concerned about the pollution levels and potential health risks.
“I mean, that’s very concerning because we don’t even know what’s happening, and then all of a sudden we get sick and we don’t even know why,” said Isabelly Sabo, a student at Laney College.
The prosecutor said the defendants in this case have tried to delay since charges were filed.
Radius has denied that any hazardous waste was processed at the recycling plant.
A lawyer for the company said he expects Radius to be acquitted.
