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Last month, the EPA issued several violations to one of the company’s California plants. The facility, located on the Port of Redwood City, converts discarded cars and appliances into scrap metal that is sold to China.
Recently, Sims Metal Management has been making headlines. While the company is not a household name, perhaps it should be. Sims is the largest metal and electronics recycler in North America, with operations in 21 states.
Last March, during an inspection to determine whether the facility’s industrial storm water permit was in compliance, red flags were raised. EPA testing revealed that the conveyer belt used to move shredded metal to ships was leaking mercury, copper, lead, zinc, and PCBs into Redwood Creek, which flows directly into the San Francisco Bay.
Pollutants reached levels that threatened fish, birds, and even human life, with PCB levels 10,000 times the acceptable rate and mercury levels more than 100 times the acceptable rate. Sims is working with the EPA to clean up its act. If violations are not remedied by mid-March, the company could be fined up to $37,500 a day under the Clean Water Act.
Many of us diligently recycle our cans, computers, and cars. Once the discarded objects leave our hands, we often feel like our job is done. The situation at Sims Metal Management is a reminder of the importance of regulations that safeguard what happens to our waste on its way to a second life.
Metal recycling is a fact of life in our resource-hungry world. But it must be done in a way that is not only efficient, but environmentally-sound.
Photo, taken on February 15, 2008, courtesy of Ard Hesselink via Flickr.