An environmental watchdog organization, San Francisco Baykeeper, has reportedly filed legal action against a local scrapyard in San Leandro. The suit, filed Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco, accuses Alco Iron & Metal Co. of allowing stormwater runoff from its recycling operations to pollute San Francisco Bay with hazardous metals. This lawsuit arises from what Baykeeper claims are repeated violations of the Clean Water Act, as reported in an SFGATE article.
Alco Iron & Metal Co., with a legacy stretching back to 1909 and now employing 200 people across Northern California, describes itself as a family operation deeply rooted in the metal recycling industry. Having grown from the early days of horse-drawn collection to a multi-site enterprise, its San Leandro headquarters has come under scrutiny for storm runoff that Baykeeper alleges includes lead, oil, grease, and other pollutants, as detailed in a statement obtained by Local News Matters. By conducting five stormwater sampling events from December 2022 to January 2024, Baykeeper claims these discharges exceed federal benchmarks for contamination.
The problem, according to Baykeeper's lawsuit, stems from outdoor scrap operations that leave particulates and debris on the facility's surfaces. When heavy rains occur, polluted stormwater runoff flows into the Bay, impacting the water quality in an area that local communities frequent for recreation. Baykeeper's concern, echoed in their recent filings, is that this type of pollution contributes to more than half of the total contamination affecting local waterways annually.
Alco's response to the allegations came in the form of a defense emphasizing their commitment to the environment. Michael Bercovich, Alco's chief operating officer, conveyed his disappointment with Baykeeper's claims, which he found inaccurate and dismissed as "demagoguery characterizations." In his view, Alco aims to foster a relationship rooted in problem-solving and environmental stewardship to resolve concerns, a sentiment he expressed in a statement to SFGATE.
