SAN FRANCISCO — An alliance for workers called Wednesday for the state Attorney General’s Office to investigate claims that the Bay Area’s air district destroyed records about industrial pollution.

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Whistleblowers: Mystery file cabinet, trashed files point to document destruction at air quality board At a public meeting of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board, eight speakers urged board members to ask state investigators to probe claims by two district workers that they were fired for blowing the whistle about destruction of records on enforcement against pollution violators, including oil refineries.

District managers have repeatedly denied the allegations, and said the agency kept electronic copies of the same records that the agency is accused of destroying.

But the denials didn’t satisfy several worker rights advocates.

“Whether or not you agree with the charges, there should be an outside independent agency to look into this,” said Steve Zeltzer, of United Public Workers for Action, a network of labor groups, unions and community groups. “These are serious allegations.”

Daniel Berman, a social justice advocate and author of a 1978 book on worker safety called “Death on the Job” said that employees too often face repercussions for reporting problems.

“I hope you have the courage to restore these people,” Berman said of the fired workers.

Other speakers agreed, saying it’s not enough to trust the public agency that polices air pollution to police itself.

The call for a probe is a response to a claim filed last week in state court by former district workers, Sarah Steele, a temporary records specialist, and her boss, Michael Bachmann, former district head of information technology.

In their claim, the two said they tried to save records as the district prepared to move from its long-time headquarters on Ellis Street in San Francisco to a new regional government center across town. The workers said their efforts to save records were thwarted by top district staff, including two lawyers.

The air pollution board did not discuss the issue Wednesday in their open meeting, but held a closed-door discussion on it.

Afterward, Mark Ross, an air board member also on the Martinez City Council, said the board is barred from commenting on details of the case because it involves personnel and legal issues.

Ross also said he doesn’t like it when public agencies publicly trash and bully workers who criticize the organization.

“I wouldn’t object or stand in the way of an (attorney general) investigation,” he said, “although I have a reasonable level of confidence that what the district administration told us is true.”

The air district on Wednesday released its strongest statement yet that it did nothing wrong, and hired an outside legal firm that found no merit in the claims of illegal records destruction.

“The Bay Area Air District does not tolerate improper destruction of records and is committed to transparency,” said Lisa Fasano, a district spokeswoman. “A few such microfilm records have been misplaced, but the summary data for those violations remains available in the air district’s data system.”

The air district, a regional agency with a 24-member appointed board, regulates industrial and other non-vehicular sources of air pollution in the nine-Bay area counties.