Bribery, fraud and wildfire: How a PG&E contractor with a sketchy past made millions after California’s deadliest fire

This article was produced in partnership with the Bay City News Foundation, which is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.

It was a last-ditch effort to save a scofflaw business. For years, the owners of Bay Area Concrete Recycling had run an unlicensed dump in the city of Hayward. Neighbors complained about dust blowing off a massive pile of crushed concrete. A city water pollution expert warned the runoff could be polluting San Francisco Bay. City planners had fined the company nearly $60,000 and ordered it shut down.