Atlas Metal recycling plant in Watts permanently closed after hazardous waste case

CBS News

20-05-2025

The troublesome Atlas Iron and Metal Corp. will permanently close its Watts recycling plant after its owners pleaded no contest to polluting a nearby school campus with hazardous materials.
Father Gary Weisenberg and son Matthew Weisenberg, the owners of Atlas, are expected to be sentenced to two years of probation, ordered to complete 200 hours of community service and fined $10,500 each. Their plea agreement also mandates that their company pay $1 in restitution to the Los Angeles Unified School District, along with $150,000 in fines and penalties. Atlas must also pay $850,000 to the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the LA County Fire Health Hazardous Materials Division and the District Attorney's Office.
"This outcome shuts down a dangerous facility that has threatened this community for more than 75 years," District Attorney Nathan Hochman said. "We will relentlessly pursue any business that poisons our neighborhoods. Let this be a warning — if you break the law and put public health at risk, we will hold you accountable."
Atlas has faced backlash for the past few years after community members claimed the recycling facility has sent shrapnel onto the school's campus and has exposed students at the neighboring Jordan High School to toxic chemicals. According to the Los Angeles Unified School District, there are dangerous levels of lead and other metals on the campus amounting to 75 times higher than what the Environmental Protection Agency defines as hazardous.
In 2021, the Los Angeles City Attorney's office sued the company for being a public nuisance. The City Attorney's office alleged that the campus was once evacuated after a 6-inch shard from a military device blasted 1,500 feet into the air before landing at the school Additionally, the city alleges metal fragments have been ejected from the facility onto Jordan High's campus at least eight times in 2020.
Four years later, problems at Atlas continued after an explosion on Aug. 12, 2024, sent smoke into the air right before students returned from summer break for the first day of the school year.
"This company prioritized profits over the community's well-being for far too long, and this shutdown presents a welcome reprieve," LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said. "Let this decision send a crystal-clear message: The safety of our schools and communities is not negotiable, and no company is above the law."
Atlas also agreed to clean the site, fulfill state remediation requirements and remove the container wall on its property that minimizes disruptions to Jordan High School. It must also relinquish all rights under the Jordan Downs Urban Village Specific Plan or similar entitlement for operating a recycling facility.
Finally, the agreement outlines a deal where the company will execute a land use covenant preventing the site from being used for recycling or similar purposes and grants LAUSD and the city of LA the right of first refusal to any future sale of the property.