Camden City Council votes against allowing EMR Recycling to reopen following multiple large fires
Camden City Council members unanimously voted against allowing a recycling plant to reopen after it was the site of multiple large fires.
After heated public comment, the council voted against a settlement with EMR Recycling, a scrap metal recycling facility on Front Street near Camden's waterfront. The settlement would have allowed the company to restart operations in phases.
Several council members said the proposed safety measures were not enough to restore their confidence in the company.
"They have to do better. And they have the means," City Council Vice President Arthur Barclay said.
Residents who have spent years raising concerns about repeated fires applauded the vote, saying they finally felt heard.
"Thank you all for finally listening to us," resident La'Shae Harris said.
One resident, Aliyia Jones, held up her inhaler during public comment while describing the impact she believes the repeated fires have had on her health.
"This is my life now, this is my life for the rest of my life," Jones said. "Because you don't get new lungs."
The company was ordered to stop operations in June when the city suspended its license following a fire at the facility on May 29. That was at least the 12th fire in the last five years, according to a document about the proposed settlement.
The company said at the time that the fire likely originated from a lithium battery.
The blaze came after the plant installed a new fire suppression system, which did not initially work when the fire started. It did help fight the fire once it kicked in, the fire chief said. Smoke from the fires has worsened air quality in the surrounding neighborhood, raising health concerns for residents.
A large fire at EMR in February 2025 took about six hours to get under control and sent smoke into Philadelphia. The company said that fire was likely caused by a lithium-ion battery that was "wrongly delivered" to the facility and concealed within scrap metal.
