The Los Angeles County district attorney announced 22 felony charges against a metal recycling company in connection with the dumping of toxic waste at Jordon High School in Watts.The Los Angeles County district attorney on Wednesday announced 22 felony charges against a metal recycling company and its owners in connection with the dumping of toxic waste& Metal Co., and owners Gary Joseph Weisenberg and Matthew Jacob Weisenberg, D.A.
More than 500 students at the school "attend class and routinely breathe in dust with lead, chromium and other toxic materials, which we believe emanate from the scrap-metal recycling plant" located next-door to the campus, Gascón said. Twenty-one of the felony counts allege the company of knowingly disposing hazardous waste -- including nickel, zinc and copper -- at a site with no permit; one felony count stems from the deposit of hazardous waste. The defendants each face one misdemeanor count of failure to maintain or operate a facility to minimize the possibility of a fire and public nuisance, prosecutors said.
Dating back to July 2020, the criminal complaint alleges that the defendants violated state environmental laws by not properly getting rid of hazardous waste. Soil samples taken from an area of the campus that is adjacent to the Atlas facility showed excessive concentrations of lead and zinc, the D.A.'s office said. Additional samples taken at Atlas found excessive concentrations of seven metals.Arraignment in the case is scheduled for June 26.