EPA orders Watts metal recycler to prevent water pollution

A crane lifts scrap metal at Atlas Iron & Metal Co., in Watts, in June 2020. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered a scrap metal recycler in Watts to take action to prevent chemicals from washing into local storm drains and drifting onto the campus of a neighboring high school. Federal regulators are requiring S&W Atlas Metal & Iron, one of the city’s oldest metal recyclers, to upgrade its stormwater treatment system and limit metallic debris from migrating off its property. This order requires Atlas to improve their stormwater treatment and eliminate any water pollutant discharge from leaving the site and reaching Jordan High School,” said Martha Guzman, EPA Region 9 administrator. In 2020, Los Angeles Unified School District has filed a federal lawsuit against the facility for “continuing to allow dangerous, sharp metal projectiles, fine metallic dust and other objects to be launched or emitted from their property.” Soon after, the Los Angeles City Attorney also sued the facility alleging, in part, that its scrap metal piles and a makeshift wall of cargo containers violated city rules.