A dozen or so scrap metal scavengers "go to work" every day at an abandoned north Modesto industrial building, ripping the place apart to harvest the tin, iron, steel and other recyclables for quick cash.
No one stops them.
Because nobody admits owning the 9-acre property, law enforcement officials say there is no victim, so no one can be prosecuted.
The Indalex aluminum manufacturing facility on North Star Way off Bangs Avenue used to be a profitable business, employing 154 unionized workers. Until 2008, it created doors, windows, electrical appliances and other aluminum products, primarily for the construction industry.
But the corporation went bankrupt when the building industry collapsed.
Indalex liquidated its valuable assets, but it abandoned its Modesto property along with 45,000 gallons of hazardous waste — including sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid.
Last fall, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spent $500,000 in taxpayer funds to clean up Indalex's toxic mess, then fenced off the 125,000-square-foot building and left.
Scrapping crews descended.
"I started scrapping here maybe eight months ago," said Michael Bennett, who uses a blow torch to melt metal pieces off the walls and roof. "I do it to feed my family. I've got two kids."
Bennett said the first guys who ripped into the building got rich removing perhaps $100,000 worth of copper.
Far less profitable metalsremain, but plenty of folks willingly help themselves to what's left.
"We have an average of 10 to 15 guys a day coming out here," said Rueben Zuiderduin, an articulate young man who said he is a trained chef. "The only reason I'm doing this is because I'm out of work."
Zuiderduin labored with a torch much of Monday to dismantle an iron grate, which he reportedly sold for a disappointing $69. During the last month, he said he hasn't made more than $1,000 off Indalex scrap.
None of the dismantlers were hiding their activities when The Bee visited the site.
Some reported earning an OK living off the building, and they don't think they're doing anything wrong.
"I'm scrapping it out for my Uncle Sam," said one shirtless man who wouldn't reveal his name. "If Uncle Sam sent people here to demolish this place, they'd be in full hazmat suits and it would cost a fortune."
After spending the day ripping apart the building's siding or other metal pieces, the man said he trucks his cargo to "any number of scrap metal places" that pay him $100 to $150 for his haul.
"I treat it like a job. I come in during the morning, work all day, haul off, cash in and go home," the man said. "Nothing here is free. It takes a lot of work to do this."
Zuiderduin also sees his efforts as noble.
"It's a hazardous eyesore, and nobody's doing anything about it but us," Zuiderduin said. "Everybody is happy we're doing this. The companies across the way, the police and the sheriff are fine with this."
He's wrong about that.
Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said he has met with angry owners of neighboring properties about the demolition at Indalex, but there's little he can do.
"They're taking property that doesn't belong to them. That's a crime, but without a victim, I cannot arrest them and the district attorney cannot prosecute them," Christianson explained.
There's no victim because no one is sure who owns the property.
Plenty of government officials are trying to figure that out, including the EPA, which got stuck with the cleanup bill, Stanislaus County's tax collector, whose agency is owed more than $245,000 in unpaid property taxes, and county officials who want to rectify a litany of code violations.
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