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Oakland company ordered to meet Clean Water Act requirements at its facility in San Jose

Release Date: 02/08/2007
Contact Information: Mark Merchant, [email protected] Desk (415) 947-4297 Cell (415) 760 5419

SAN FRANCISCO – A recycling company ordered in December by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to comply with federal stormwater and pollution prevention regulations at its Oakland headquarters has been ordered to comply with the same regulations at its facility in San Jose.

The EPA has ordered California Wastes Solutions, Inc. to minimize and prevent the discharge of pollutants into the San Francisco Bay or any other body of water, perform a daily inspection of its industrial activity areas and complete specific clean-up tasks.

This new order applies to California Wastes Solutions’ recycling facility on Timothy Street in San Jose. The prior order, issued Dec. 5, was for the company’s Tenth Street facility in Oakland.

“Polluted runoff from these two facilities discharges into the San Francisco Bay,” said Alexis Strauss, the EPA’s Water Division Director for the Pacific Southwest Region. “To protect public health and the environment, we trust that California Wastes Solutions will promptly comply with the Clean Water Act and rectify the problems at these facilities.”

Polluted runoff is the leading cause of water pollution in the San Francisco Bay area. Stormwater runoff can carry pollutants from industrial sources, metals, oil and grease, acidic wastewater, bacteria, trash and other toxic pollutants into nearby water sources. The EPA requires industrial facilities to prevent water pollution by complying with federal and state water pollution requirements.

On Sept. 18, EPA inspectors visited California Wastes Solutions’ Oakland facility and found inadequate stormwater pollution controls and pollution prevention plans, violations of the company’s stormwater discharge permit and the Clean Water Act. The company’s San Jose facility was inspected on Jan. 24 and the same types of violations were discovered.

Failure to comply with the EPA order could bring penalties against the companies for as much as $32,500 per day per violation.