By Yana Singhal
LOS ANGELES, CA – The Healthy Families Coalition, alongside members the Board of Education, and LA Unified School District, gathered outside the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center this week to urge the court to proceed at a preliminary hearing in People v. Atlas Metals.”
“Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón filed 22 felonies and two misdemeanor counts against S & W Atlas Iron & Metal Co and its owners, Gary Joseph Weisenberg and Matthew Jacob Weisenberg […] for various crimes associated with dumping hazardous waste at Jordan High School in Watt,” noted the Coalition in a press statement.
The “year-long delay for a preliminary hearing is unusual and community members are gathering to urge the judge to move the matter forward expeditiously” added the Coalition.
The Coalition for Healthy Families notes the constant contamination at Jordan High School has resulted in them fighting against a “nearby housing development with protests, media events, town halls, meetings with public officials , a “toxic tour” with enforcement agencies, and pointed letters to government officials.”
The Coalition adds, “In 2022, the Guardian found that students at the school are exposed to lead levels 75 times higher than what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines as a hazardous threshold. The Los Angeles Times published an exposé on Atlas Metals last year amid a community led fight for justice.”
The Coalition added, court records and video evidence show that Atlas materials are burned resulting in “fugitive emissions that put dangerous toxins in the air and on school grounds…runoff from Atlas comes onto school grounds creating an environmental hazard.”
Healthy Families charged, “LAUSD had to clean lead from the classrooms…and had to clean up the toxins in soil on school grounds at a cost of over $3 million” and “a report from the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), a summary of violations showed that Atlas is in violation of multiple Health and Safety Code sections related to the illegal disposal, storage, and treatment of hazardous waste.”
In addition to the dangers students at Jordan High School endure, Healthy Families notes “Multiple pieces of shrapnel (photos) have been ejected from Atlas Metals onto school grounds, threatening to injure or kill a student or staff member” (and) one “narrowly miss(ed)” hitting a construction worker.”
“In one case, an actual bomb was exploded at the site, projecting shrapnel onto school grounds. To block shrapnel from being ejected onto school grounds Atlas erected an unpermitted, illegal wall made from shipping containers,” the group added.
The Coalition for Healthy Families said, “Over 100 Jordan High School students have sent a letter to Los Angeles officials demanding protection from the dangerous toxins they’re exposed to every day.”
One letter read, “Every day, we hear the sounds of cars being crushed, smell the fumes of metal being burned, and feel our classroom shake from the facility’s operations. At times, the noise is so loud we are unable to hear our teachers speak and classes must be paused.
“The school closed the field down after nails and broken glass were found on our softball field. We worry that we’ll be hit with shards of scrap metal that have been known to fly over the fence when we play on the blacktop.”
The Coalition insisted some “meaningful action” that should take place would be, “Immediate condemnation of Atlas Metals based on their ongoing building, health, or environmental violations, new state and local laws that prohibit this type of dangerous land use within close proximity to vulnerable populations, schools or residential complexes.
“New laws or regulations requiring the DTSC to perform testing that designates appropriate toxin levels based on residential standards rather than industrial standards when within close proximity to vulnerable populations, schools or residential complexes, and new requirements for DTSC to offer a robust public participation process that’s transparent and includes a public participation specialist.”
The Coalition letter notes how the “DTSC must amend the Land Use Covenants (LUCs) at the site. Allowing Atlas to self-report violations instead of actively monitoring and regulating Atlas is not appropriate given their long list of violations and ongoing failure to report.
“The Mayor and City Council should amend the Specific Plan for the HACLA – Jordan Downs Urban Village project to take out language which has allowed Atlas to avoid many environmental restrictions and ultimately preclude this type of use, and that The District Attorney must file felony charges to immediately hold Atlas Metals criminally accountable for the harm they’ve caused.”
