Baykeeper recently secured a new legal victory to stop the Newby Island landfill facility in Milpitas from releasing polluted runoff into tributaries of San Francisco Bay.
The Newby Island Resource Recovery Park is a landfill, compost, and material recovery facility located near the Bay shoreline. Through our investigations, Baykeeper found that the facility had been releasing excessive levels of pollutants—including selenium, iron, aluminum, nitrogen, and sediment—into Coyote Creek and Lower Penitencia Creek for years. Both of these creeks are tributaries of San Francisco Bay.
Baykeeper reached a settlement agreement with International Disposal Corp. and Browning-Ferris Industries—the operators of the Newby Island facility—that requires improvements in pollution and debris control. These improvements include strengthening basic housekeeping to regularly clean up contaminated materials on site; installing storm drain filters; taking actions to prevent erosion; and regularly testing rainwater running off the site to monitor pollution levels. If initial improvements don’t stop the contamination, the facility has agreed to make further improvements.
To partially offset the harm from its past polluting activities, the operators of the Newby Island landfill will provide funds to the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment, to support the work of other nonprofit projects that benefit San Francisco Bay.
This agreement is the 41st settlement in Baykeeper’s Bay-Safe Industry campaign, which targets the widespread illegal practice of releasing industrial pollution into San Francisco Bay.
The Newby Island landfill facility is located near Coyote Creek and the Bay’s shoreline.