Camden plans to revoke an EMR business license after latest fire, city councilman says

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The city of Camden is looking into revoking the embattled scrap metal recycler EMR’s city licensure, a spokesperson said Tuesday.

The statement comes after Camden City Councilmember Arthur Barclay told a room full of residents and advocates Monday evening that the city plans to revoke a business license held by the company.

“At [Barclay’s] request, and with the support of the Mayor, the City Administration is undertaking all necessary legal research to move forward in this regard,” city spokesperson Vincent Basara said in an email Tuesday.

A two-alarm fire on Friday at the company’s facility along the Delaware River, where it shreds old appliances, junk cars, construction materials and other scrap metal into small pieces that can be remelted, prompted city, county and state elected officials to call on EMR to fully cease operations in Camden.

Friday’s fire caused levels of fine particulate pollution to become “extremely elevated” in some parts of the Waterfront South neighborhood, said Camden County spokesperson Dan Keashen. This type of air pollution can cause breathing issues and even trigger heart attacks at high levels. The city and county sent emergency notifications to residents Friday morning encouraging them to remain indoors to avoid the smoke and turn off any heating and air conditioning systems that draw air inside.

More than a dozen fires have occurred at EMR’s facilities in Camden over the last five years, according to a lawsuit filed by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General earlier this year.

“I stand by my decision in permanently shutting them down,” Barclay said Monday at a community meeting held at the Center for Environmental Transformation, a nonprofit in the Waterfront South neighborhood located just around 2,000 feet from the shredder facility.

“That business license will be revoked tomorrow,” he said.

“Like, tomorrow, tomorrow?” asked resident Kristin Schrum, who lives near the facility.

“Yes,” Barclay said.

Joe Balzano, EMR USA CEO, wrote in a text message Monday evening that the company is currently reviewing its options and considering how best to respond.

“We believe that the decision to revoke our license does not reflect the progress we’ve made or our commitment under our MOU to the community,” he wrote.

‘This will no longer be tolerated’

A massive four-alarm fire at EMR’s shredder in February 2025, caused roughly 100 nearby residents to evacuate their homes and stay at hotels where EMR had paid for rooms. It left some nearby residents with concerns about their health.

Following that fire, the City of Camden announced a memorandum of understanding with the company, in which EMR committed, among other things, to installing an upgraded fire suppression system. The company completed the system, consisting of several heat detection sensors and automatic water cannons, last month.

Several of the water cannons worked as intended during Friday’s fire, helping to keep the fire contained, but one water cannon initially malfunctioned, according to Camden Fire Chief Jesse Flax. Balzano previously told WHYY News that the new system would not prevent all fires, but would help keep them from reaching the scale of previous blazes.

Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen said Friday that the city had tried to work with the company to improve its operations.

“After numerous fires, numerous attempts to help EMR prevent future fires, here we are again,” he said Friday. “This will no longer be tolerated by me, my colleagues, our elected officials here and, more importantly, our residents.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the latest information as of June 2.