Adam Weitsman pays $400,000 fine, agrees to stop polluting the air with metal shredder

Adam Weitsman, owner of Upstate Shredding - Weitsman Recycling, stands in his scrap yard in New Castle, Pennsylvania.SYR

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Adam Weitsman will pay a $400,000 fine to settle a federal lawsuit over air pollution emitted from his metal-shredding plant in Tioga County.

Weitsman also has two years to install new equipment at his facility in Owego that will capture chemicals emitted when the shredder rips up cars and other large chunks of metal, according to the settlement.

It’s part of an Environmental Protection Agency crackdown on big metal shredders across the country. The agency said the shredding process produces enough heat to melt or burn paints and plastics, which release chemicals called volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. Those chemicals in turn form ground level ozone that can harm human lungs.

Weitsman said he has been negotiating with the EPA for over two years.

“The EPA was very good to us,” Weitsman told syracuse.com Monday. “We think the settlement was very fair and we look forward to continuing the relationship with them.”

Weitsman said he has to have the machinery designed that will filter the chemicals from the air. He said EPA has given him two years to design and build that machine.

In July 2021, the EPA issued what it calls an “enforcement alert” to scrap dealers across the country. The agency said it had tested multiple shredding sites and found they emitted VOCs above what regulations allowed.

EPA regulators notified Weitsman that his shredder, which can process 400 tons of metal an hour, was likely among those emitting too much pollution. In the lawsuit filed last week along with the settlement, the EPA said Weitsman had failed to install proper pollution equipment at his company, Upstate Shredding.

“Upstate and Weitsman are required to control 81 percent of VOC emissions from their facility under the Clean Air Act,” the lawsuit said. “They control none of their VOC emissions.”

Billionaire Weitsman also has a metal recycling facility in Syracuse, although he said it does not have a shredder.

In addition to scrap metal recycling, Weitsman operates multiple restaurants in Skaneateles and frequently brings celebrity guests to SU basketball games at the Carrier Dome, including Pete Davidson, Tom Brady, and Jimmy Fallon.

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