THE DANGER
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DEADLY METAL PROJECTILES LAUNCHED ONTO SCHOOL GROUNDS
Multiple pieces of shrapnel have been ejected from Atlas Metals onto school grounds, threatening to injure or kill a student or staff member.
One "narrowly miss[ed]" hitting a construction worker. To protect the kids at the school LAUSD closed a brand-new softball field and the adjacent batting cages after spending $3 million to remediate the environmental hazards and renovate the field.
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FUGITIVE EMISSIONS
Atlas routinely burns materials that result in fugitive emissions that put dangerous toxins in the air and on school grounds.
Atlas' daily activities also result in metallic dust being propelled into the air.
In fact, LAUSD had to clean lead from the classrooms at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and had to clean up the toxins in soil on school grounds at a cost of over $3 million.
TOXIC RUNOFF
When it rains, runoff from Atlas comes onto school grounds creating an environmental hazard.
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SHAKING DISRUPTS THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Shaking from a large magnetic compactor used to smash cars and other things not only disturbs the learning environment for kids that are already in a historically disadvantaged community, there are fascinatingly loud noises that cause children to "cup their ears" at school. Staff at the school report "the violent slamming and crushing of metals...metallic dust on the blacktop and playing fields...large and dangerous pieces of metal... [and] incredibly loud explosions that sound like bombs..." In one case, an actual bomb was exploded at the site, projecting shrapnel onto school grounds.
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DANGEROUSLY ILLEGAL AND UNPERMITTED STACKS OF CONTAINERS
To block shrapnel from being ejected onto school grounds Atlas erected an unpermitted, illegal wall made from shipping containers that is unstable and leaning.
A Supervising Structural Engineer for LAUSD recently said in a declaration that:
"The Container Wall poses a clear and present danger to the students and staff at the School... In my opinion, there is a real potential danger that this wall of stacked shipping containers is likely to tip and fall, and because of the wall’s height and immediate proximity to the School, such a collapse could be catastrophic with potential serious injuries or death to occupants of the School. I am particularly concerned about electrical poles and high voltage wires in the potential pathway of the wall if it were to collapse."
CRIMINAL VIOLATIONS GO UNADDRESSED BY LA CITY
The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has found myriad violations which are sufficient for a criminal action (Health and Safety Code section 25189.5 and companion sections re: Illegal Disposal of Hazardous Waste; Storage of Hazardous Waste; Treatment of Hazardous Waste which can be charged as felonies or misdemeanors).
Instead, the City Attorney and Attorney General brought civil actions which have been ineffective, and which will take years to litigate. Even if those actions are successful, they wouldn't stop much if not most of the behavior above. Planning, environmental, and health code violations galore exist that are sufficient for authorities to take immediate administrative action to shut Atlas down.
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