On Friday, May 23, Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson dismissed the criminal case [1] against West Oakland scrap metal recycler Radius Recycling (formerly Schnitzer Steel) for its role in a massive two-day fire in 2023 [2] that spewed acrid, possibly toxic, smoke across the Bay Area.
[3]District 18 Assemblymember Mia Bonta is not happy about it.
“Serial polluters shouldn’t be allowed to fill our lungs with hazardous waste, including lead, and get away with it with nothing more than a slap on the wrist,” Bonta stated in a press release sent to the Alameda Post on Wednesday, May 28. The 2023 fire was the third at the company’s scrapyard.
“The repeated fires from this facility threaten the well-being of the entire Bay Area, particularly the surrounding community in Oakland,” Bonta’s statement continued. “Located within a mile of this metal shredding facility are 18 daycare centers, 10 parks, eight schools, four senior centers, and two hospitals. Since 2018, the local air district has issued 13 notices of violations to the Oakland-based shredder, resulting in lawsuits for violating various emissions rules.”
Radius Recycling and two of its employees— regional general manager Daniel Woltman and terminal manager Dane Morales—were indicted [5] by an Alameda County Grand Jury on June 28, 2024. Criminal charges, filed last year by then-DA Pamela Price, alleged recklessness, conspiracy, and concealing evidence, according to an Oaklandside [6] report on July 23, 2024. The 10-count indictment included up to $33 million in penalties.
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DA Dickson’s office decided to drop the case after determining there was insufficient evidence to proceed, according to an East Bay Times [7] report.
According to court filings, former DA Price’s office presented testimony from 50 witnesses along with hundreds of exhibits to the grand jury that indicted Radius.
On May 28, 2025, Oaklandside [1] quoted Price as saying the decision to dismiss the case is “outrageous.”
In her newsletter, Assemblymember Bonta said, “I commend the efforts of local activists and leaders, such as the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, who have been ringing the alarm bell about this (situation at Radius Recycling) for years, and I am disappointed that their concerns are being tossed aside.”
Bonta led AB 2851 [8] in the State Assembly, which will require metal shredders to install an air monitoring system at their sites’ property line to provide the community with real-time data about the impacts of air pollution. The bill, which was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, will establish contaminant threshold requirements, determine when community notification is necessary, and ensure that metal shredders comply with the Clean Air Act, Bonta said.