Plea deal shutters Watts recycling plant accused of spewing toxins onto school

A South L.A. recycling plant that has been accused of spewing toxic waste and metal projectiles onto the grounds of Jordan High School will be permanently shut down, according to a plea deal agreed to by the plant’s owners in court Tuesday.

Matthew and Gary Weisenberg — the owners of S&W Atlas Iron & Metal, one of the city’s oldest metal recycling facilities — each pleaded no contest to three misdemeanor counts of unlawful disposal of hazardous waste and public nuisance. The corporation pleaded no contest to five felony counts of failing to properly dispose of hazardous waste.
In addition to shutting down, the company and its owners will pay around $150,000 in fines. They will also owe $1 million in restitution to the Los Angeles Unified School District and an additional $850,000 to the district attorney’s office, which will be split between government agencies and Watts community organizations.

The father and son will serve 200 hours of community service and two years of probation. They must also cease recycling material processing facility operations. The Weisenbergs maintain the right to operate a business on the parcel of land they own, but it cannot involve metal processing or recycling, according to the terms laid out in court.

California

Judge shuts down recycling plant accused of spewing toxins onto L.A. school

A few days after he jailed the owners for repeated violations of court orders, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Terry Bork halted operations at a metal recycling plant that has long been accused of exposing Watts high school students to toxic waste.

March 17, 2025

The school district and city will have the right of first refusal to buy the parcel if the Weisenbergs ever look to sell their land.

L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman was in the courtroom Tuesday morning and held a news conference at Jordan High School later in the afternoon. He used the opportunity to warn “environmental criminals,” saying, “Pay heed and notice to what is going on today.”

“They are polluting the land, the sea, the rivers and the air,” said Hochman. “Very often, environmental criminals think they will pay a fine here and there — that’s business. But they are putting their feet to the fire today.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Daniel Wright, who worked on the case, said outside the courtroom, “We are very pleased with the plea deal. The facility has been operating for so long. There have been so many instances of shrapnel flying onto school property. It’s very dangerous for the students, let alone all the hazardous waste.”

The Weisenbergs’ attorneys, Benjamin Gluck and Vicki Podberesky, had previously denied all wrongdoing by their clients.

“While it is with sadness that Atlas has agreed to close its recycling operations, this decision reflects the evolving land use along the Alameda Corridor,” wrote Gluck in a statement to The Times. “Our clients hope that the outcome of this case and the financial contributions Atlas is making will help support the Watts community.”

L.A. prosecutors first charged the Weisenbergs with nearly two dozen counts of failing to properly dispose of waste in 2023, following years of allegations levied by community activists and school officials that the metal plant was belching poison onto students. Prosecutors alleged the plant exposed students at Jordan High School to several explosions, metal projectiles and lead levels nearly 75 times higher than what federal regulators deem safe.

Pressure on the plant’s owners ramped up last year, after an explosion at Atlas rattled Watts students on the first day of school.

Climate & Environment

Scrapyard explosion rattles Watts high school on first day of classes

Minutes before first period, staff at Jordan High School in Watts reported a loud noise and a plume of smoke emanating from the metal recycling yard next door.

Aug. 13, 2024

As a result, a judge barred the plant from accepting certain types of canisters that might blow up, warning the Weisenbergs their bail would be revoked if they didn’t comply. In March, an investigation by the state Department of Toxic Substances found containers of acetylene, a highly flammable gas, on the plant’s grounds. L.A. County Superior Court Judge Terry Bork briefly jailed the Weisenbergs and days later ordered the plant shuttered for failure to comply.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency previously ordered the company to upgrade its system to stop chemicals from washing into storm drains and going onto campus. Prior soil samples reported from the high school also showed high concentrations of lead and zinc.

For more than 20 years, community organizers and activists have fought to get the plant shut down. Genesis Cruz graduated from Jordan High School in 2023 and organized student protests against Atlas. She hopes that one day the space the facility occupies can be transformed into a “healing space” for Watts and its students can come together.

“When I was a student, I remember the times when Atlas was the most disruptive were when we were taking tests and doing written assignments. We would all have to be silent, but it was so hard to focus when all you could hear were the loud noises outside,” said Cruz. “So now students will be able to concentrate and study a lot more effectively.”

Tim Watkins, chief executive of Watts Labor Community Action Committee, another opponent of the facility, called the plea deal just the “tip of the iceberg.”

“This has been a very successful battle, but it’s just a battle,” Watkins said. “We want to stop the owners of Atlas from benefiting from any of this.”