EPA cracks down on Redwood City metal recycler
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered a Redwood City metal recycling company to stop loading shredded metal onto ships bound for China after inspectors found PCBs, mercury, lead and other dangerous pollutants leaching into San Francisco Bay.
Sims Metal Management, one of the largest metal shredders in the Bay Area, was accused Tuesday of violating federal clean water laws and ordered to halt loading operations until workers seal a conveyor belt that was spilling toxic metal powder.
The Sims Metal scrap yard, which leases a parcel of land from the Port of Redwood City, dismantles cars, metal products and home appliances and loads the material onto ships. EPA inspectors discovered during two visits that the company was discharging PCBs, mercury, lead, copper and zinc into Redwood Creek, which flows into the bay.
The toxic pollution escaped because there was no protective covering on the conveyor belt that was used to move the material from the wharf to the ships, said Jared Blumenfeld, the agency's regional administrator. As a result, the metal dust blew off the top or fell off the sides of the belt and found its way into the creek, he said.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/10/BA4O1MN7ST.DTL
= new reply since forum marked as read
Hopefully the EPA will follow through.
