Copyright CBS News
The recently shuttered S&W Atlas Iron and Metal Corp in Watts was ordered to pay more than $1.8 million in restitution, and the company's two owners were sentenced to two years' probation. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge issued Gary Weisenberg, 79, and Matthew Weisenberg, 37, the probation order on Tuesday, and additionally, the father and son were ordered a $10,500 fine and 200 hours of community service. Earlier this year, the company entered a no-contest plea to five felony counts of hazardous waste disposal without a permit, two misdemeanor counts of hazardous waste disposal at an unpermitted site, and two misdemeanor counts of public nuisance, as the neighboring Jordan High School suffered "environmental injustice," according to school officials. The Los Angeles Unified School District is to receive $1 million in restitution from the company for the release of the hazardous materials onto the Jordan campus, which opened in 1923. S&W Atlas Iron & Metal Co. has been its neighbor since 1943. Carlos Torres, LAUSD Office of Environmental Health and Safety director, said after the court sentencing that "The Jordan High School community, the students, the staff, have borne the consequences of Atlas' actions for far too many years. It's reckless what they did, and we have to protect our students, and we have to protect our community." Former Jordan High School student Genesis Cruz commented after the court hearing that students were often disturbed by loud noises from the plant when it was operating and that the school's softball games often had to be canceled or relocated because of shrapnel that needed to be cleared from the field. In 2020, the Los Angeles Unified School District filed a lawsuit against Atlas, asking for the release of the hazardous materials onto the Jordan campus to stop. The suit also detailed a 2002 pair of explosions at the plant that sent metal shrapnel raining onto the campus. In 2023, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office charged the company with nearly two dozen criminal counts of alleged illegal disposal of hazardous waste, including sharp pieces of metal, smoke, fumes, and other hazards onto school grounds. A 2024 explosion at the facility, on the high school's first day of school, led to a judge barring the plant from accepting certain combustible materials. In the spring of 2025, during a visit to the facility, the state inspectors found this order had been violated, leading to the plant's closure. "There should never have been a situation where you have a metal recycling facility right next to a school," Torres said. "I feel better, I can have students out on the play yard, whereas before we had to limit that."
