Restraining order issued against Atlas Metal; mountain of scrap metal towering over Jordan High School called a ‘public nuisance’

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    LOS ANGELES, CA (KCAL, KCBS) — A judge granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday against a scrap metal recycler in South LA, just two days after Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer sued the company for being a public nuisance.

Atlas Metal, which neighbors Jordan High School on South Alameda Street, has long been a source of dangerous metal shards from its massive scrap metal mountain, according to City Attorney Mike Feuer. The lawsuit filed by his office’s Environmental Justice Unit accuses the scrap metal yard of being the source of noxious fumes and excessive noise, and multiple violations of environmental, building, and safety laws.

“It’s completely unacceptable that the Jordan High School community lives under constant threat of being hit by sharp metal objects emanating from its dangerous next-door neighbor,” Feuer said in a statement. “School officials actually had to cordon off part of the athletic field out of fear that students or staff could be injured when they return this month.”

The City Attorney’s office alleges that the campus was once evacuated after a 6-inch shard from a military device blasted 1,500 feet into the air, before landing at the school, and that metal fragments have been ejected from the facility onto Jordan High’s campus at least eight times in 2020.

A mountain of scrap metal towers over basketball courts at the school in one photo released by the City Attorney’s Office. Feuer alleges that while the city requires a buffer of 50 feet between the facility and the school, the haphazard piles of metal sometimes are within 10 feet of the buffer wall and are a public nuisance.

The restraining order prohibits Atlas Metal, and its principals Gary Weisenberg and Matthew Weisenberg, from allowing projectiles from being launched or emitted from the facility.

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