"During her four years at Jordan High School, Genesis Cruz repeatedly sounded the alarm for fellow students about the metal recycling plant operating next to the historic Watts campus.

At protests at the start of the school year, and again in January, she tried to get them to understand that their situation is far from typical — that most campuses don’t sit adjacent to a place facing allegations that it released sharp pieces of metal, smoke, fumes and other hazards onto school grounds.

“A lot of them … did take the information, and they did read about it,” Genesis said. “But I’m not really sure if it really caught their attention 100% to where they wanted to do something about it.”

But she expressed greater frustration with public officials, who she felt have failed Watts on a major environmental justice issue."

Marissa Evans reports for the Los Angeles Times June 3, 2023. [2]