Oakland recycling company execs face charges in 2023 scrap metal fire
Radius Recycling (formerly Schnitzer Steel) and two of its managers face several charges for a fire that broke out at the company's West Oakland plant last August.
The charges include three felony counts, with managers Dane Morales and Daniel Woltmann facing nine and 10 charges, respectively.
The company will face eight charges, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price announced Tuesday. If convicted of all these charges, the company could face up to $33 million in fines, and the managers could face up to three years in prison, prosecutors said.
The complaint alleges that in the days leading to the fire, the company continued to accumulate scrap metal despite equipment failures. Then, on Aug. 9, 2023, the pile of scrap metal ignited, sending a plume of gray, toxic smoke throughout the region into the following day.
The District Attorney's Office contends that the actions leading to the fire amount to felony violations of the California Health and Safety Code. It's the first time the Alameda County District Attorney's Office has brought criminal complaints against a company and its employees under this statute, Price said.
"That is the message to those who are continuing to pollute, who have been violating our rights in Alameda County with impunity, that it is a new day in Alameda County," Price said.
Attorney Aaron Dyer, who is representing Radius, denied that the recycling plant handled hazardous waste and said he was confident that the company would be exonerated.
"These charges are false," Dyer said Wednesday. "The District Attorney's Office was at Radius the day the fire was extinguished, along with almost every state and local regulator, and they found no evidence of hazardous waste."
Price said that the company was also responsible for two other, smaller fires during the last five years. She said her office opted for criminal charges because other penalties had proved inadequate, calling the indictment a "signature" moment in her tenure.
"We believe that Radius has often shrugged off regulations when it was convenient to them, treating minor administrative fines and civil penalties as the cost of doing business," Price said.
The indictment was based on 50 testimonies to a criminal grand jury, Price said, and that the defendants had made their first court appearance on Tuesday morning.
"We hope that Radius will finally learn its lesson," Price said.