General Iron Facility—On Hold

On Friday, May 7, the City of Chicago placed on hold the permit that would allow General Iron to relocate a scrap metal shredding plant to the Southeast Side. The action came as the result of a letter from the administrator of the Environmental Protect Agency, Michael Regan, that expressed concerns about adding to environmental hazards that already exist in the area and halted the permit-granting process until it can conduct a thorough assessment of the facility’s effect on pollution and health impacts in the community. 

Environmental and community organizations, with the support of LWV Chicago, have been working for months to shine a light on the dangers of locating the facility on the Southeast Side. These include Alliance for Climate Action, Alliance of the Southeast, Chicago Youth Alliance for Climate Action, Faith in Place, and the Sierra Club. 

“Substantial data indicate the current conditions facing Chicago’s southeast side epitomize the problem of environmental injustice, resulting from more than a half century of prior actions,” Regan said. “This neighborhood currently ranks at the highest levels for many pollution indicators.” These hazards include fine particulate matter, toxic pollutants in the air that pose cancer risk, respiratory threats, proximity to traffic and hazardous waste sites, lead paint, and wastewater discharges.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has directed the city’s health department to begin an environmental study in keeping with the EPA’s request. RMG, the company seeking to relocate the metal shredding plant, believes the “facility will meet or exceed all applicable environmental and health standards.”