EPA and CalEPA Launch Multi-Agency Collaborative to Address Environmental Impacts from Metal Recycling in West Oakland

EPA and CalEPA Launch Multi-Agency Collaborative to Address Environmental Impacts from Metal Recycling in West Oakland

Effort seeks to improve health and safety of community historically burdened by harmful pollution.

January 17, 2025

SAN FRANCISCO (January 17, 2025) - TheU.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), other state regulators, a community organization, and a businessto address the effects of metal shredding in West Oakland, California.

"The signing of this partnership agreement signals a new approach by government agencies, industry, and communities to solving health and safety concerns," said U.S. EPA Pacific Southwest Deputy Regional Administrator Cheree Peterson. "This agreement demonstrates the power and possibility of outcome-driven, collaborative problem solving that will help bring long-term improvements to the community and can serve as a template for other communities that have health and safety concerns with a facility."

The three-year memorandum of understanding, known as the West Oakland Collaborative, includes Radius Recycling, the business that has been the source of the environmental impacts and at the center of regulators' enforcement actions. Members of the collaborative are the EPA and CalEPA, along with the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP) and Radius. The goal of the collaborative is to develop creative solutions for addressing the impacts of metal shredding operations on the community.

"Like many other parts of the nation, too many California communities still shoulder the weight of the harmful pollution burdens left behind by industrial operations," said California Secretary for Environmental Protection Yana Garcia. "But in this story, there's a plot twist. The community, regulators and the facility that's being regulated are collaborating beyond boundaries to innovate. Our shared goal is to make sure that West Oakland residents are a step closer to experiencing the healthy environment they have always deserved."

This partnership agreement came from a year of engagement between WOEIP and an inter-agency Rapid Response Task Force comprised of federal and state regulators to address compliance concerns from an August 2023 fire at Radius Recycling. Although compliance investigations and enforcement action were initiated, the parties recognized that the community continued to have health and safety concerns living next to a metal shredding facility. WOEIP asked the task force members and Radius Recycling to join them in working together to bring long-term improvements to the community with an aim of reducing pollution burdens, increasing environmental compliance, and improving public health outcomes.

The memorandum of understanding does not change regulatory oversight of the Radius facility. All agencies will continue to oversee the facility's compliance with existing regulations and permits, and any ongoing or future investigations and enforcement will not be impacted. However, the West Oakland Collaborative represents a unique partnership where a community, a facility, and regulatory agencies all have seats at the table with the goal to collaborate and solve health and safety problems.

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