Judge jails recycling plant owners accused of exposing Watts students to toxic waste
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The owners of a recycling plant accused of exposing South L.A. high school students to toxic waste and metal projectiles for decades will spend several days in jail after a judge determined they violated a court order.
Matthew Weisenberg and Gary Weisenberg, the owners of S&W Atlas Iron & Metal, were handcuffed and led away from a downtown L.A. courtroom Thursday morning after Superior Court Judge Terry Bork found they have continued to pose a risk to the community by accepting canisters that held explosive materials onto their site. A bail hearing is set for Monday.
The Weisenbergs are awaiting trial on 25 counts of failing to properly dispose of hazardous waste and failing to minimize the risk of exposure or fire at their Watts plant, which has operated next door to Jordan High School for about 70 years.
A metal recycling plant was charged in a 25-count indictment on Thursday for exposing Jordan High School students in Watts to toxic explosions, hazardous waste and lead levels 75 times higher than those deemed safe by the U.S. EPA, authorities said.
The charges came after years of protests from community activists, students and a lawsuit by the L.A. Unified School District, which alleged Atlas allowed “dangerous, sharp metal projectiles, fine metallic dust and other objects to be launched or emitted from their property.”
In June 2023, then-Dist. Atty. George Gascón announced felony charges against the company and the Weisenbergs, alleging the plant exposed Jordan students to dangerous explosions and lead levels found to be 75 times higher than those deemed safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
An explosion on the Atlas grounds left Jordan students jarred on the first day of school last year, officials said.
The Weisenbergs have been out of jail on their own recognizance since the charges were filed, but prosecutors filed a motion contending that they violated the terms of that release this month, after an investigation by the state’s Department of Toxic Substances found several containers of acetylene, a highly flammable gas, on the property.
“The young students at Jordan High School should never have been put in harm’s way,” L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in a statement Thursday. “This case is progressing toward justice for the children, educators, and community members who were endangered by this explosion. No business has the right to recklessly jeopardize public safety, and we will continue to hold those responsible accountable.”
L.A. Superior Court Judge Ricardo Ocampo had ordered Atlas not to accept any gas containers that hadn’t been cut or punctured, as to avoid potential future explosions. The Weisenbergs’ defense attorneys, Vicki Podberesky and Benjamin Gluck, argued that their clients separated the offending acetylene canisters as soon as they were discovered and kept them away from machinery that could cause an explosion.
“There is evidence of a real effort to comply. I understand it broke down. I understand the court does not want canisters to be accepted, full stop,” Gluck said. “We would like some guidance as to what we can do if someone drives a canister onto our property.”
Gluck said it would be illegal for Atlas employees to remove the canisters from the property on their own, and a company that specializes in removal of hazardous waste had yet to conduct a pickup at the time of the March 6 visit from an investigator with the Department of Toxic Substances.
The EPA administrator says he is rolling back dozens of environmental rules, including those crucial to California programs on climate change and electric vehicles, and closing offices that worked to lower pollution in poor communities.
Bork was not swayed.
“The problem is they’re not in the middle of the desert, they’re right over the wall from hundreds of high school students,” Bork said.
“Something broke down in the protocols that Judge Ocampo ordered and relied upon when he made his decision not to assign bail or to remand the defendants into custody,” he continued, adding that the “protocol has been ineffective to cure the risk of harm.”
An Atlas spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Bork ordered the Weisenbergs jailed until he can hold a hearing to determine a proper bail amount on Monday.
“Today is the first time the owners of Atlas metals have felt the consequences for their decades of damage to the Watts community,” Genesis Cruz, a former Jordan High School student, said in a statement. “We remain hopeful that this step signals the end of their reckless and dangerous operations and the harm caused to generations of students.”
Times staff writer Clara Harter contributed to this report.
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