Metal Recycler Ordered to Halt Waste Discharge

A metal recycler must halt all discharges of a soupy waste that has over 30 years created a 40-foot slag heap on its beachfront property.

The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board on Thursday gave Halaco Engineering Inc. nine months to convert to a system that would remove water from the slurry generated by its smelting plant.

The switch would produce cleaner waste water along with solid material that could be sold rather than piled onto the slag heap, which has been blamed for 20 years of contamination of nearby wetlands, ground water and the ocean.