A Los Angeles County judge ordered the owners of a troubled steel recycling facility to pay $2 million in damages and stop operating a high school near Watts High School, eliminating industrial pollution and hazardous chemicals.
IS & W Atlas Iron & Metal has processed scrap metal in watts since 1949, distributing and baling aluminum canes, steel rods and steel wire. At the time, students and staff at Jordan High School complained that the facility’s activities covered their campuses in toxic dust, occasionally the home’s outdoor areas with shrapnel and disrupted classrooms with explosives.
Atlas, along with the owners of the father and Bares and Mather Weisenberg, matured two years ago with many criminal charges later, after the explosion of the lawyer’s office on 20120 and August on the first day of the charges against the Defendants.
The company and the Weisenbergs eventually pleaded guilty to several charges.
During the sentencing on Oct. 21, La County Superior Court Gerry Terry Bork ordered the company to close the scrap yard for good and sign a land development agreement that would prohibit recycling on the site. Owners are also subject to two years of imprisonment and must perform 200 hours of community service.
Bork also ordered Atlas to pay $2 million in fines, including $1 million in restitution to the Los Angeles Unified School District. In addition, Atlas will be required to give the school district and the city of LA first right to purchase the property, if it decides to sell.
“This sentence serves a long way of justice for a community that has lived in the shadow of this dangerous institution for generations,” La County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “For too long, the children at Jordan High School and the families in Watts have been put at risk by a for-profit company that puts a profit on safety. My office will continue to answer for our children or our communities.”
An attorney and the Public Relations Firm representing the Weisenbergs did not respond to a request for comment.
The sentence ends a long-running saga of dangerous mishaps and shut downs in and around the school.
In 2002, perhaps one of the most unsavory episodes, the rehabilitation center was conducting naval artillery shells – that was inerert – when one exploded and a chunk of metal was launched into the upper Jordanian campus. No one at the school was injured, but one visitor to the atlas yard suffered minor injuries.
The united school authorities urged the court to impose a “strong and appropriate sentence” that would prevent future natural disasters.
“For decades, Jordanian high school students and teachers have been bearing the consequences of neglecting safety,” said a spokesman for the La Enunity school district. Accountability is essential to ensure that this community is not harmed further. “
Earlier this week, Supt. Alberto Carlvaho emphasized those frameworks.
“Far too far, our students and teachers at Watts have treated others carelessly, but they have met every challenge with strength, kindness and unity,” Carvalho said in a statement on social media. “Schools must always be shields for places, free from environmental damage. Environmental justice is educational justice, and a united Los Angeles remains central to our commitment to the future.”
As an additional requirement of the sentence, atlases must conduct an environmental cleanup of the site as approved by the Department of Toxic Substances. School district authorities expect that the grounds contain high levels of lead, which can cause cognitive harm to children.
Timothy Watkins, President of the Watts Subcommittee on Politics, had mixed feelings when he heard about the court’s decision. On the other hand, he said, He is happy that the atlas is finally closing. But, he worries the damaging effects of the lead from Atlas may have harmed the generations of children that cannot be added.
“Atlas Metal created a wound in the community, and the salt that goes into that wound every day remains contaminated,” Watkins said. “Who says he’s going to clean it up to the point where it needs to be clean? Regardless, they’re still benefiting from the exploitation of our community.”
For the past few months, the neighborhood has been very quiet. The scrap yard ceased operations in May. Atlas workers dismantled the shipping container wall between the scrap yard and the school, which was meant to keep sharp metal shards and other debris from the school yard.
Watkins said the community will continue to be involved until there is an environmental disaster.
“We’re not done,” he said. “They are not finished.”
