A wallboard manufacturing plant in Richmond's Canal Boulevard corridor is on the hook for $188,500 after regulators say dust from its operations spread well beyond company property and into surrounding homes and businesses. The Bay Area Air District fined Gold Bond Building Products, LLC for 13 separate violations tied to fine mineral dust escaping the facility, and the penalty comes with a list of required fixes the company must now carry out.
According to the Grand View Independent, the Gold Bond wallboard plant sits at 1040 Canal Boulevard, while the Mercury News places the facility in the 100 block of the same street. Air District Executive Officer Philip Fine said the dust problem was not confined to the plant grounds. “Dust from the Gold Bond plant has drifted well past its property line, into the neighborhoods and businesses nearby,” Fine said, per the Grand View Independent's report.
What the 13 Violations Covered
The Bay Area Air District served Gold Bond with 13 notices of violation, and those notices concerned unpermitted equipment along with fine mineral dust leaving the company and reaching nearby homes and businesses, according to facts cited in the Mercury News report. The plant handles large amounts of gypsum rock and fine mineral powder, and per the district's statement, that process depends on enclosures, filtration equipment and strict operating procedures to keep powder from entering the air. Fine mineral dust contributes to pollution and, per the district, can make it difficult to breathe.
Fine said the penalty requires Gold Bond to upgrade both its equipment and its daily practices to contain the dust. “Neighbors should not bear the pollution of the business next door,” Fine said, according to the Mercury News. The company has an outdoor gypsum pile that has drawn particular scrutiny from regulators.
Required Fixes at the Plant
As part of the settlement, Gold Bond Building Products will enclose an outdoor section of its plant to contain the gypsum pile, the Mercury News reports. The company must also strengthen its dust-control equipment, with the required improvements including an upgrade to the dust collection equipment that captures airborne material inside the plant, according to the Grand View Independent. Gold Bond will additionally improve its daily operating practices, a change officials say is meant to keep loose material from leaving the site altogether.
Attempts to reach the company were unsuccessful. A phone message left at Gold Bond's Richmond number was not returned, and the company did not provide an email address on its public website, per the Mercury News.
A Plant Near a Future Neighborhood
The Gold Bond facility sits a short distance from a proposed 76-home development planned for a former quarry site at 1135 Canal Boulevard, the Grand View Independent reports. The facility is near the proposed development, and dust has drifted beyond its property line.
Air-district fines like the one against Gold Bond are calculated based on the severity of the incident, the violator's compliance history and other factors, according to Berkeleyside. Richmondside's analysis of Air District data and records obtained from the district found that regulators assessed nearly $122 million in fines stemming from more than 10,000 notices of violation issued between 2015 and 2025. Other major Bay Area polluters have faced far steeper penalties: Chevron Richmond was fined more than $15 million over the same ten-year span, while Martinez Refining Company racked up 323 violations resulting in $741,500 in penalties, per the same analysis.
Violations like the ones at Gold Bond are typically uncovered either through the air district's own routine inspections of permitted facilities or through complaints filed by residents, Berkeleyside notes. For penalties of this size, the district says it notifies the public through press releases, email alerts and postings on its Penalties and Settlements web page.
