Owners of metal recycling plant near Watts high school are sentenced, company fined more than $1.8M
WATTS, LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- A former metal salvage and recycling yard adjacent to Jordan High School in Watts was ordered Tuesday to pay more than $1.8 million in restitution after its no contest plea to five felony counts of disposal of hazardous waste without a permit, while the company's owners were each ordered to pay a $10,500 fine and perform 200 hours of community service.
The sentence handed down by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Terry Bork comes about five months after S&W Atlas Iron and Metal Co. Inc. and the company's owners, Gary Weisenberg, 79, of Encino, and his 37-year-old son Matthew reached a plea deal with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office that permanently closed the site for use as a recycling facility.
The company and its owners will be on probation for two years, with the judge ordering quarterly progress reports to see if any problems arise.
The company must pay $1 million in restitution to the Los Angeles Unified School District for its losses and $850,000 to the District Attorney's Office, which will be distributed for costs incurred by that office, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, Los Angeles County Fire Health Hazmat and other agencies or organizations that monitor or mitigate pollution or its health impacts or otherwise improve the quality of life in Watts, according to the plea agreement.
The company -- which has already paid $350,000 in restitution and was set to make another $350,000 payment Tuesday -- must also pay a $25,000 fine along with penalty assessments.
The charges against the company involved the disposal of lead, nickel, zinc, selenium and antimony in August 2022.
The company's owners each pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts of disposal of hazardous waste at a site having no permit -- one involving lead and the other involving zinc in May 2022 -- and one misdemeanor count of willfully and unlawfully maintaining a public nuisance.
Attorney Benjamin Gluck, representing the company and Matthew Weisenberg, told the judge that they are "gathering assets" and "expect to make more payments before they're due."
He noted that "our clients don't want this hanging over their heads."
Attorney Barry Groveman, representing the LAUSD, told the judge that it is a "fundamental environmental justice issue."
Carlos Torres, the director of the LAUSD's Office of Environmental Health & Safety, told reporters outside court that the Jordan High School community, students and staff have "borne the consequences of Atlas' actions for far too many years." He said there should have never been a metal recycling facility next to a school, adding that he feels "this is a situation of environmental injustice that occurred here."
