he was a supervisor at recology. two buy back centers have helped san francisco reach an 80% recycling rate. the highest in the nation. but at this buy back center on tunnel road, brian says there were problems. so he installed surveillance cameras to keep an eye on things. >> there is the attendant. she going to weigh the material. >> reporter: he estimates that was about two pounds of plastic and three pounds of aluminum but the report from that transaction shows something different. 68 pounds of plastic and 47 pounds of aluminum. then, off the customer goes to get his cash to later split with his buddy, the employee. >> and this is an example of what went on all day. >> reporter: in 2007, company records show 6.3 million pounds of bottles and cans taken in for recycling. but only 1.4 million pounds leaving for processing. armed with the evidence, brian took his findings to management but he was told to back off. even threatened. >> i was told people in the company wanted me in the pit. i took it as a death threat.

mcveigh's lawsuit claims recology was defrauding the state of california, as well.hy is it such a big deal? i'll show you. when you bring these plastic bottles in to recology, the buy- back centers, they have to pay you a dollar six a pound. that's money they have to recoup from the state of california. if you just throw it in the bin, they only get 51 cents a pound from this stuff, the same bottle. now, mcveigh says the recology was reporting many more of these valuable bottles coming in when in reality, they were filling in the numbers with these cheap ones. >> every time a vehicle or a person comes in with material, it comes across the scale. >> reporter: recology's robert reed claims there's no way the two kinds of recycling material could get mixed up but what he failed to explain is what we noticed. >> park over here and meet our employee. >> reporter: when he took us on a tour inside recology's processing center at pier 96. the curbside material is actually a mountain of bottles and cans and paper and even garbage. once it's sorted and bailed, the bales are n

today we are at recology. they are celebrate 20 years of one of the most incredibly unique artist residency programs. we are here to learn more from one of the resident artists. welcome to the show, deborah. tell us how this program began 20 years ago. >> the program began 20 years ago. our founder was an environmentalist and an activist and an artist in the 1970's. she started these street sweeping campaigns in the city. she started with kids. they had an exhibition at city hall. city officials heard about her efforts and they invited her to this facility. we thought it would coincide with our efforts to get folks to recycle, it is a great educational tool. since then, we have had 95 professional artists come through. >> how has the program changed over the years? how has the program -- what can the public has an artist engage with? >> for the most part, we worked with metal and wood, what you would expect from a program like ours. over the years, we tried to include artists and all types of mediums. conceptu

recology shipped roughly 5 million of the 6.3 million pounds they recorded taken in instead of the 1.4lion pounds we reported they shipped and we regret that error. >>> we learned late tonight that jim lang has died. he's well known around the bay area, a broadcast legend on tv and radio. he also hosted a number of game shows in the 1960s and '70s including the dating game. jim lang had a heart attack and died at his home in mill valley. he was 81 years old. asily it could happen to you. >>> a beauty queen hacked, someone posted naked pictures of miss teen usa and the really scary part is how easily it could happen to you. >> we've learned there's a potentially deadly disease hiding in california dust and tonight rain is making it spread even faster. >> we uncovered a strange twist in the story of a california in the story of a california couple who struck gold, ,,,,,,,, one of the best things is that millions of peopleia will qualify for financial assistance. it's important to remember that the lower your annual income, the greater financial assistance you will receive. enroll now at

ken bastida looks into allegations against recology a story you'll only see on 5. >> i do believe in the green environmentally-friendly sound policies. >> reporter: brian mcveigh was once proud of his job. he was a supervisor at recology where a curbside recycling program and two buy-back centers have helped san francisco reach an 80% recycling rate, the highest in the nation. but at this buy-back center on tunnel road, brian says there were problems so he installed surveillance cameras to keep an eye on things. >> there's the attendant. and he is going to weight material. >> reporter: he estimates that was about 2 pounds of plastic and 3 pounds of aluminum. but the report for that transaction shows something completely different. 68 pounds of plastic and 47 pounds of aluminum. then off the customer goes to get his cash to later split with his buddy the employee. >> and this is just an example of what would go on all day. >> reporter: in 2007, for example, company records show 6.3 million pounds of bottled and cans taken in for recycling. but only 1.4 million pounds leaving for proce

brian mcveigh was a supervisor at recology. he set up surveillance cameras while working there and showed us some of the video. he says the video shows here a customer placing about 2 pounds of plastic and 3 pounds of aluminum on the scale into a bin at a buy-back center but the report for that very transaction shows 47 pounds of aluminum, 68 pounds of plastic. mcveigh claims the weights of buy-bacterial were inflated for a kickback later. >> this was an example of what would go on all day for the buy-back material. >> recology says it's false and says there are no way the two kinds of resigningle ising material could be mixed up. the company has changed protocol at its buy-back centers after mcveigh left the company. the scales were connected to the computer making it tougher for anyone to cheat. >>> today in oakland a protest on the anniversary of trayvon martin's death in florida. it's part of a nationwide hoodies up day. the 16-year-old martin was wearing a hoodie when he was shot and killed by neighborhood watch volunteer

. >> we're here in another recology studio with abel. what attracted you to apply for this special program? >> who would not want to come to the dump? but is the first question. for me, being in a situation that you're not comfortable in has always been the best. >> what materials were you immediately attracted to when you started and so what was available here? >> there are a lot of books. that is one of the thing that hits me the most. books are good for understanding, language, and art in general. also being a graphic designer, going straight to the magazines and seeing all this printed material being discarded has also been part of my work. of course, always wood or any kind of plastic form or anything like that. >> job mr. some of the pieces you have made while you have been here. -- taught me through some of the pieces you have made while you have been here. >> the first thing that attracted me to this was the printed surface. it was actually a poster. it was a silk screen watercolor, about 8 feet long. in terms of the flatwork, i

today we are at recology. they are celebrate 20 years of one of the most incredibly unique artist residency programs. we are here to learn more from one of the resident artists. welcome to the