Overview

• The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District sued Radius Recycling in Superior Court over deficient safety measures that led to an August 9, 2023 blaze at its West Oakland plant.
• The complaint alleges Radius stored scrap in areas without required water cannons or heat-detection sensors, which regulators say were substantial factors in creating the fire’s conditions.
• After dismissing criminal charges in May that had been brought by her predecessor, DA Ursula Jones Dickson shifted to civil enforcement to ensure compliance with environmental laws.
• The lawsuit seeks an injunction prohibiting unsafe scrap storage and unspecified fines to compel the installation and upkeep of fire-prevention systems.
• Radius Recycling previously paid $4.1 million in a 2021 settlement for hazardous emissions and was fined $575,000 in 2024 over flawed emissions-control equipment installation.