Last week, Berkeley Forge & Tool, Inc. agreed to reduce its rainy-season pollution of San Francisco Bay. The agreement came after Baykeeper notified Berkeley Forge that its storm water runoff contained high levels of aluminum, copper, iron, zinc, and other pollutants.
Berkeley Forge manufactures metal machine parts for heavy mining equipment, as well as custom forged tools.
Baykeeper was concerned about pollution from the facility because it is located a few blocks from the Bay in west Berkeley. Storm water runoff from the site flows into storm drains that lead directly to the Bay.
Berkeley Forge has agreed to make several upgrades to reduce pollution. These include installing carbon filters in the downspouts that drain water from the buildings’ rooftops and moving large metal-containing equipment indoors to keep it out of the rain. The company will also repave some areas and increase sweeping to reduce the tracking and accumulation of pollutants.
In addition to site upgrades, Berkeley Forge will do more testing of its storm water runoff to ensure adequate pollution reduction is achieved. Baykeeper will monitor Berkeley Forge's progress over the next couple of years.
To help mitigate the damage from its past pollution of the Bay, Berkeley Forge is contributing funds to the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment, a nonprofit organization that funds environmental restoration projects in the Bay Area.
This agreement with Berkeley Forge & Tool is the latest victory in Baykeeper’s Bay-Safe Industry campaign. We launched the campaign to rein in widespread, illegal runoff into San Francisco Bay from most of the Bay Area’s 1,300 industrial facilities. The campaign includes legal action against facilities found to be significantly polluting the Bay, outreach and education to industrial polluters and advocacy to strengthen controls on industrial storm water.