Camden Emr Fire: Site had violations in the past

A story of environmental injuries

EMR runs a metal recycling complex along the Delaware River Waterfront in South Camden, where the fire took place, as well as a safe car partner business and a scrap that buys cars and devices along the I-676 in the city.

According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Enforcement Records, the state environmental officials have led the EMR locations of Waterfront South for several violations in recent years.

These violations included the output of smoke and air pollutants, which would have a “potential threat” for public health that can represent the operations of front-end loaders, claw graves and industrial magnets without permits, the trucks and idle and otherwise cannot match permits.

In 2021, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection accused a penalty of $ 9,500 for two fires that took place in the company in 2020 and 2021, where it stores great piles of automatic waste. The agency later enclosed the matter with EMR and accepted a lower penalty of 7,600 US dollars.

“You don't necessarily want to live right next to it [EMR]Just like you don't want to live next to a landfill, ”said Benjamin Saracco, a volunteer at Camden for Clean Air, who lives several miles from the facility in Camden's Cooper Grant Quarter.

Saracco even said in his house in North Camden, depending on the wind direction that it was sometimes possible to smell a “sweet burning plastic smell” from the facility. The next houses of the EMR facilities of Waterfront South are much closer – only thousands away from foot.

Camden, a predominantly black and Latin American city, is overloaded by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as a overloaded community. It is also the home of a trash burning system that was a goal of supporters who work for Clean Air.