Dive Brief:
- Recology Inc., a resource recovery firm based in San Francisco, CA, is purchasing two companies: Community Recycling and Resource Recovery Inc., a composting facility, and its sister waste and recycling services company, Crown Disposal Co. Inc. Both businesses are based in Sun Valley, CA.
- The sale was pushed through despite the controversy that has swirled around Community Recycling over a series of problems culminating in a fatal incident where two brothers employed by the company were killed in an onsite accident.
- According to a letter sent to officials in Kern County, CA, the businesses are slated to change hands on January 5, 2015. Recology anticipates, but will not guarantee, hiring from the pool of 106 Community Recycling employees who are slated to be let go.
Dive Insight:
Community Recycling and Resource Recovery Inc. has been the subject of legal action and community disdain. The charges against the firm include violating land use regulations, residents' claims that the company pollutes the air, and complaints that trash overflows on site.
In October 2011, the company was also the site of two fatalities. One employee was exposed to noxious fumes while working and died, as did his brother (also an employee) who ran to his aid only to be later pronounced dead at the hospital. That incident led to the Kern County Board of Supervisors to close the facility and slap the company with a $2.3 million fine. But a judge reversed the fine and would not grant the board the right to shutter the facility.
Board of Supervisors member Jose Cruz said he did not know about the Recology buyout, adding that the sale will have big implications for the district and that the board will most likely schedule a special meeting for Community Recycling to “explain itself.” Relatives of the deceased brothers would like the facility closed for good and are disappointed that the sale occurred.
