After being blocked by Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration about a year ago, a city administrative judge is set to decide this spring whether the long-controversial car-shredding operation on the Southeast side can begin.
Weeks of public hearings regarding a denial of a permit for relocated and rebuilt General Iron ended Monday.
City attorneys defended a decision made in February 2022 in which Lightfoot-appointed public health commissioner Dr. said she acted within her powers to prevent it from being opened on Street. Amid community outcry, Arwady cited public health concerns about adding pollutants to the area.
Attorneys for Southside Recycling argue that the refusal was illegal and that the city added a “made-up” reason for refusing the business.
At a city administrative hearing, Judge Mitchell Ex said he expects to decide as early as April whether last year’s decision to deny a license to operate a metal shredder was in compliance with the law.
On the final day of hearings on Monday, attorney Geoffrey Rothman told Dave Graham, the city’s health official headed for environmental protection, that even a similar business, Sims Metal Management in Pilsen, has new pollution controls. I asked about the decision to prevent the opening of equipment with We have a history of environmental violations, but we continue to operate.
The issue of Sims has been raised throughout the process, and it is not clear whether that discussion will help the case of Reserve Management Group, owner of Southside Recycling. He repeatedly warned at the hearings that he had limited relevance in making decisions about Operation Southeast Side.
“I’ve heard this testimony. It’s useless to repeat it,” Ex said Monday. “You are asking the same question.”
City attorneys said Sims’ business was unrelated to a reserve management permit that was about to begin rebuilding operations under new city rules for large-scale metal recycling operations. We have applied for a city permit under the new stricter guidelines.
For decades, General Iron and Sims, formerly in Lincoln Park, have been collecting scrap cars, electronics and other masses of scrap, running them through shredders and recovering metal for resale. rice field.
The Administrative Court will focus on whether Alwadi has complied with the city’s rules for considering business licenses. Reserve Management is also seeking damages from the city in Cook County Circuit Court.
Reserve management attorneys also challenge the health impact assessment that the city conducted as part of its review. Lawyers say city regulations do not require such medical examinations designed to look for public health threats.
The hearing has an interesting twist, including previously undisclosed internal city documents presented this month that appear to show Arwady’s prepared comments on the announcement of approval of the Southeast Side Shredder. am.
This document also contains internal communications from other cities and was provided by Aldo to Reserve Management. Susan Sadlowski Garza (10th) and company attorney said.
City attorneys said the documents filed by Garza were prepared prior to a final decision, a claim confirmed by Graham.
Another reason used to deny the permit relates to the performance of other businesses operating at Reserve Management’s Southeast Side campus, including a small scrap metal business. Company attorneys have argued that the city should not make decisions based on these businesses, which included at least one violation regarding dust from the property. A lawyer for the company said it cited several alleged violations for which no final decisions were made.
First announced in 2018, the proposed move of General Iron from its longtime home of Lincoln Park to the Southeast Side sparked a storm of protests from community and environmental groups.
Moving a pollution operation with a history of neighborhood complaints from a predominantly white and affluent Lincoln Park to a Latinx community surrounded by black neighborhoods has raised concerns over environmental racism, prompting federal investigators to concluded that the city’s practices were discriminatory.
The city is negotiating a potential deal with federal officials.
Brett Chase’s report on the environment and public health was made possible by a grant from the Chicago Community Trust.
