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Camden residents and advocates say the state is not asking for enough in its lawsuit against EMR, the multinational scrap metal recycling company whose facilities in the city have been the site of repeated fires.
The state Office of the Attorney General and Department of Environment Protection sued EMR early this year over what the state claimed were at least a dozen major fires at EMR’s Camden sites since 2020, caused by unsafe conditions that the company created at its facilities. The public nuisance lawsuit asked a Superior Court judge to order EMR to limit the height of its shredder residue piles, monitor the temperature of its material with infrared cameras, hire a consultant to make recommendations to improve its operations and submit reports tracking the amount of material coming in and out of its facilities to the state.
But during a listening session that state officials held Wednesday, several members of the public urged the state to seek compensation for residents rather than merely operational changes at the company. Fires at EMR facilities have forced residents to evacuate their homes and left them with concerns about their health.
Aliyia Jones, who lives just blocks away from EMR’s metal shredder in the Waterfront South neighborhood with her disabled mother, described a traumatizing experience of evacuating her home during fires at EMR, then having to clean smoke residue off blinds, curtains and even her dog when she returned home. She said residents like her have lost days of work and been left with anxiety after the fires.
“How can you move forward with your lawsuit and not take in consideration of the residents?” Jones asked state officials.
