Activists Urge City to Delay Permitting for a Scrap Metal Shredder in Pilsen

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Environmental justice activists gathered Monday morning outside City Hall to demand Chicago officials delay a permitting decision for a scrap metal shredder in Pilsen. The city issued a draft permit on Oct. 8, signaling that the facility, which has racked up environmental violations, is here to stay.

The shredder at 2500 S. Paulina St. is owned by the multinational company Sims Metal Management. It has been in the predominantly Latino neighborhood, along with other heavy industrial facilities, since the 1990s.

“I have a lung disease and my mother died of a lung disease. And the reason I have a lung disease is because I live in the neighborhood I love,” said lifelong Pilsen resident Mary Gonzalez. The 83-year-old worries about the children at schools near the shredder, including Benito Juarez High School a half-mile away.

The Pilsen facility’s permit expired in November 2021, but the Chicago Department of Public Health did not want to issue a new permit until the U.S. EPA completed data collection and analysis on the site, according to department spokeswoman Grace Adams. Existing city ordinances allow the shredder to continue operating in the interim despite having been cited by state and federal officials for violating laws.

In 2018, the U.S. EPA fined the company $225,000 for emitting high levels of particulate matter known to cause respiratory problems. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul sued Sims Metal in 2021 for allegedly failing to show it was reducing air pollution.

To ensure Sims future compliance with the Clean Air Act, the EPA required the company to install air quality monitors, which initially failed to produce reliable data. The state also required it to install emission control systems, which have yet to be completed.

 Courtesy: www.chicagotribune.com