Oakland, California based AB&I Foundry, part of the Oakland Industrial Alliance, has teamed up with County Supervisor Nate Miley on his pilot program based on an emerging best practices to address illegal dumping that is plaguing the community. This multi-faceted approach aims to clean up existing waste and prevent future illegal dumping practices.

Through the pilot program, local businesses, nonprofits, and community groups have partnered to contribute to the movement. AB&I Foundry and Argent Materials are both allocating staff hours and equipment to clean up the area. The Beautification Council and Men of Valor are providing on-the-ground-support. Supervisor Miley is working with a team of his staff and local high-school interns to educate the neighborhood on strategies to combat illegal dumping.

“This illegal dumping remediation program is important to the local community,” AB&I Foundry General Manager Michael Lowe said. “By working as a team with local businesses, residents and community leadership, we are collectively finding ways to combat the disheartening behavior of illegal dumping while improving the community where people live and work.”

In July, Supervisor Miley hosted a community celebration to highlight the progress of his illegal dumping pilot program where neighbors were invited to learn more about the program for East Oakland. The Supervisor’s pilot program aims to end illegal dumping through street cleanups, community outreach, and new partnerships between the Alameda County Sheriff’s office, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, and Oakland city councilmembers Larry Reid and Rebecca Kaplan.

“I am so proud to be part of this community and forging the partnerships needed to take action and improve our surroundings here in East Oakland,” said Zeydi Gutierrez, director of community relations at AB&I Foundry. “We’ve been part of the fabric of this community for over a century and have witnessed the increase in illegal dumping, so we’ve decided make a difference.”

Oakland says it has at least 100 illegal dumping hot spots. This is a plague to the community that needs to be addressed with rigorous enforcement for violators, AB&I stated.

In other AB&I Foundry news, Oakland’s Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce has awarded AB&I with the Deep Roots Award in recognition as a longtime steward of the local economy, helping build the city’s foundation. The chamber award was presented at the 114th annual luncheon in June

“It is important for the community to know that AB&I Foundry is not only a manufacturer of plumbing products, but also plays a tremendous role in giving back to the community,” Lowe said. “We are creating jobs and have made our community a better place through a multitude of community programs.”

The company believes in being good stewards to the environment and their community and has spearheaded many programs including a massive neighborhood cleanup in East Oakland, has cleaned up the Elmhurst Creek in support of the Oakland Creek to Bay Clean and Green Initiative.

AB&I has been in Oakland since 1906, and continues to evolve through innovation with state-of-the-art manufacturing processes and environmental conscience manufacturing, it stated. The company proudly boasts of being as clean and green as possible, not only meeting but often exceeding, all regulatory standards with manufacturing.

AB&I employs over 200 team members, where 37% reside in Oakland. The economic impact is more than $71 million, which is injected back into the local economy through payroll, taxes and local purchases, AB&I pointed out. AB&I has been an American manufacturer of cast-iron soil pipe and fittings for storm and sanitary drain, waste and vent (DWV) plumbing systems since 1906.