A fire last year and a groundswell of resident concerns about auto and metal recycling facilities will likely lead San Antonio to update its regulations.
Plumes of smoke on San Antonio’s Southwest Side could be seen for miles last September as firefighters worked to put out the more than 10-hour blaze at a metal and auto recycling plant. It was the sixth reported fire at the facility since 2019.
Since then, Monterrey Iron and Metal has agreed to weekly inspections to avoid losing its license to operate and has spent about $500,000 to bring its facility up to code and another $500,000 to enhance fire prevention and safety features, a company spokesperson said.
The city’s Development Services Department confirmed that the recycling plant has passed its weekly inspections since they started in late February.
The fire and resident concerns surrounding Monterrey and other smaller facilities throughout the South and West sides prompted City Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5) to initiate a review and potential update of the codes that regulate metal and auto recycling facilities. She filed a formal policy consideration request in November.
Monterrey has “made drastic improvements to property. … They are 100% in compliance,” said Castillo, who recently visited the facility at 2300 Frio City Road.
“But the goal of this isn’t to target a specific metal recycler,” Castillo told the San Antonio Report. “It’s to look at the industry as a whole and [find out] how we can work as partners to ensure that we’re protecting the health and quality of life of our neighbors.”
“… The goal is that there’s compliance sooner and there’s accountability sooner, before there’s a fire,” she added.
Last month, the council’s Governance Committee agreed to advance the policy request to the Planning and Community Development Committee, which will soon form an ad hoc stakeholder group or task force to review possible code updates. That task force will review processes for issuing and resolving citations, heftier fines for repeat offenders and other mechanisms for compliance.
Ideally, each council member and the mayor would select a representative to serve on the task force and include representation of area residents and the industry, Castillo said.
The process will likely resemble how the city developed its new multifamily apartment inspection and penalty policies. Castillo said she’d like to vote on new rules for recyclers within six months.
“I’m hopeful that we can have this conversation with urgency,” she said. “Ultimately [City Council] will decide that timeline, and if there’s consensus, great. If not, we’ll have that debate.”
So far, the Planning and Community Development Committee’s April agenda has not been finalized or posted on the city’s website.
Codes relating to metal and used auto part recycling operations last received a major overhaul in 2012 to clarify and strengthen the rules.
Jordan Vexler, Monterrey’s chief operations officer, participated in that process.
“I would very much like to serve [again],” said Vexler, whose family started the company in San Antonio more than 100 years ago and moved to its current location in 1982. “We need to come to this table without mistruths … hopefully without too many misconceptions.”
Beyond compliance
A lithium battery most likely caused the September fire, Vexler said. Batteries are prohibited from such facilities, but customers can forget to remove them before dropping off their recyclables. Loads are inspected by staff for prohibited items, but like most processes, “it’s not perfect,” she said.
Still, the fire was not the result of a code violation, she said. Previous fires have been sparked by lightning and fireworks. “Fire hazards are endemic to what we do.”
The company recently installed two large, red tanks filled with water and surfactant, which are not required by code, near the main conveyor belt that leads scoops of twisted metal up to a large shredder.
The steam from that powerful, fast-moving shredder — as water is used to cool equipment and material — is often mistaken for smoke, she said.
Local, state and federal guidelines heavily regulate air pollution and water runoff and Monterrey remains in compliance to prevent contamination. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gave the plant a satisfactory classification for its September compliance check.
Monterrey, which occupies about 30 acres, is sandwiched between busy Union Pacific train tracks and is adjacent to a precast concrete manufacturer and other industrial companies.
Vexler said the recycling plant, as the most visible operation, may be getting the blame for the noise and plumes produced by other operations.
Cars and other items are drained of gas, oil and other hazardous materials before they arrive at Monterrey, she said. They also accept aluminum, steel beams, rebar, brass, insulated wire, copper tubes, engines and more.
“What we use every single day is what we’re recycling,” she said. “And somehow there’s this perception that the second hits our door, it becomes hazardous waste.”
Monterrey’s mission is sustainability, she said. “We’re reducing carbon emissions every day by doing what we do. So that really drives my passion for this.”
‘It’s scary’
The fires at Monterrey and other recycling plants over the years, including Danny’s Auto Recycling & Mobile Car Crushing, highlighted practices that had long frustrated residents.
Calls to two other metal and auto recycling facilities, including Danny’s, went unanswered this week.
Complaints range from scraps of metal on the street puncturing tires to concerns about rainwater runoff contaminating the aquifer, but the fires were one of the highest health hazards, said Debra Ponce, who lives in the South Side and works as a climate justice organizer for Public Citizen.
“Residents had smoke in their house and outside their house — they don’t know what they’re inhaling and it’s scary,” Ponce said.
Like Castillo, she also wants to see a sense of urgency in getting new rules on the books.
“We’re going to be optimistically cautious,” said Rudy Lopez, vice president for the nearby Thompson Neighborhood Association who ran against Castillo in the 2021 election.
That history won’t get in the way of working with Castillo on this issue, Lopez said.
“I’ve been doing this for over 10 years now,” he said. “If we butt heads it’s not because there’s animosity, it’s because I want to see the best happen for my community.
More than 100 people have attended community meetings on the topic in recent months and many spoke up with their concerns, he noted. “It’s about the people in this district that need the changes that will make their lives better.”
Larry Garcia, who grew up in the Thompson Neighborhood and still works there, said the 2012 code overhaul didn’t go far enough to protect neighborhoods from legacy facilities that don’t have to comply with all the new rules.
“They do not have to abide by the rules of 2012, so if that’s the case, what are we doing today? What’s this committee going to do?” Garcia said.
Still, he would also like to be appointed to the ad hoc committee. Among other priorities, he’d like to see more transparency in the inspection and code enforcement process.
Currently, two code enforcement officers are dedicated to inspecting used automotive parts at recycling businesses and metal recycling entities.
That’s not enough to regularly reach the more than 75 facilities across the city, Garcia said. “So we suffer the consequences in our ground, water and air.”
