The state Legislature this month passed a particularly insidious bill, Senate Bill 404, which would lock in decades of toxic waste pollution in Oakland and other long-sacrificed areas.
The bill carves out an exception to California’s hazardous waste laws for one industry alone: metal shredders. Not because the waste isn’t hazardous, but because the industry is threatening to leave the state.
Metal shredding facilities generate or handle hazardous material, designated under California law due to the material’s toxic and ignitable properties. This results in toxic metal “fluff” that blows out over surrounding communities and is a fire hazard. Schnitzer Steel in Oakland caught fire in 2023.
Read MoreSource: San Francisco Chronicle