Activists demand city delay permitting for Pilsen metal shredder

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.

The health department issued the draft permit after EPA monitoring data collected over the last year showed typical levels that would not cause health effects in nearby communities. The health department will make adjustments to the draft permit after a public comment period that closes Nov. 7, Adams told the Tribune.

Sims Metals said it will continue taking strides to mitigate pollution.

“This renewal will not change our focus on earnest partnerships with our neighbors and our cooperation with all applicable federal, state, and local agencies to meet and even exceed operational expectations,” said George Malamis, Sims Metal director of operations.

However, activists are calling on the city to withhold a new permit until the emission controls are fully installed and proven to achieve the 81% emissions reductions required by the Illinois Pollution Control Board’s regulations.

They also question whether the city followed its own permit approval process. The health department is legally required to review a company’s environmental history before issuing permits. The activists allege the department has not done so.

“They’re breaking the law, their laws,” said Theresa Reyes McNamara, chair of the Southwest Environmental Alliance. “The city has the right to stop this permit from being processed.”

This scrap metal shredder in Pilsen has long been overshadowed by controversy over a similar shredder on the Southeast Side run by Reserve Management Group. Then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot revoked a permit for that shredder after residents filed a federal complaint against the city in 2020.

If the Johnson administration doesn’t listen, Brian McKeon of Lucha por la Villita Community Organization said the activists are already working on filing a similar complaint.

In the case of the RMG shredder permit, the federal government found the city culpable of concentrating polluting industries in underresourced communities. At the risk of losing federal housing funds, the city entered an agreement with the federal government to revisit its zoning, permitting and land-use practices.

McNamara hoped a subsequent ordinance from the Johnson administration acknowledging the unequal pollution burdens across the city, would prevent a situation like the one Pilsen is facing with the Sims Metal permit. The ordinance was expected to go before the City Council earlier this year but has yet to be seen.

The health department acknowledges that the passage of such an ordinance could benefit communities such as Pilsen.

“One way in which residents may be protected is through a Cumulative Impacts & EJ ordinance,” said Adams. “Once the ordinance is passed by City Council, CDPH will prepare the specific rules, standards and guidance for permitting and enforcement. Draft rules will be shared with community residents and organizations for feedback.”

McKeon fears the possibility of a drawn-out lawsuit, like the one filed by RMG against the city after its permit was revoked, may be scaring the Johnson administration from denying another industrial company a permit.

“The lesson learned by CDPH (from the RMG controversy) wasn’t that you can deny a permit to a polluter. It was you’re going to get sued, and that’s what they’re more afraid of now: getting sued rather than following the law,” he said.

Given the city’s apparent trepidation, McKeon believes another federal complaint may be necessary to spur Johnson to revoke Sims Metal’s permit.

“Mister Mayor you don’t care,” the activists chanted outside City Hall. Johnson has failed to live up to his environmental justice promises, they said.

McNamara raised money for the mayor during his campaign and was hopeful he would be an advocate for environmental justice. But, she said he’s refused to meet with her organization.

“We’re going to put a stop to his little game, and that’s gonna be by electing him only one term,” added Baltazar Enriquez of the Little Village Community Council.

The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.