Two Aldermen, Cook County Commissioner To Join Protest Demanding City Hall Deny Permit To Southeast Side Metal Scrapper
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two Chicago aldermen and a Cook County commissioner will join Southeast Side neighbors on Wednesday as they demand the Lightfoot administration deny a permit for a scrap metal operator to open along the Calumet River.
Reserve Management Group (RMG), parent company of the now-defunct General Iron, has applied to open its metal shredding facility at 116th and Burley, after shutting down the controversial General Iron scrap yard in Lincoln Park at the end of 2020. The new facility was rebranded Southside Recycling.
Last May, Lightfoot put the permit approval process on hold, after President Joe Biden's top environmental official told her in a letter that he has major reservations about the car shredding plant moving to the Southeast Side, raising civil rights concerns about the move from a predominantly white neighborhood to a mostly Latino community already overburdened with pollution.
General Iron has a history of violations with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Chicago health inspectors for emitting toxic fluff and excessive air emissions. For years neighbors of General Iron's scrap yard in Lincoln Park had called the plant an environmental dumping ground.
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th), Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd) and Cook County Commissioner Bridget Dengen plan to join protesters outside the mayor's office on Wednesday, calling on her to deny that permit, accusing the Lightfoot administration of a lack of transparency and community engagement in the permit approval process.
In order to begin operating the new metal shredder, RMG needs a permit, but Lightfoot is holding off on making any decision until an environmental study is completed.
The Chicago Department of Public Health, which is reviewing the permit application, held a final community engagement session Tuesday night, but it's unclear how soon CDPH will decide on the permit.
After Lightfoot put the permit approval process on hold last year, RMG filed a $100 million federal lawsuit against the city, accusing Lightfoot of breaking an agreement to help the company move its operation from Lincoln Park to the Southeast Side.
A judge tossed the lawsuit, rejecting the claim that the city is violating the company's constitutional rights.
