WHYY’s ‘Camden’s Burning Issue’ event will unpack reporting on fire-prone scrap metal recycler

WHYY News and The Margin will offer Camden residents a look into the reporting behind “Up in smoke,” an investigative collaboration about a multinational scrap metal recycling company’s operations in the city, during an event next month.

EMR runs several facilities in Camden that have caught fire over a dozen times since 2020. Some of these blazes have driven Waterfront South residents to evacuate their homes and left them with lingering concerns about their health.

The project by WHYY News and The Margin explores the impact of these fires on residents’ lives and the city of Camden’s attempt to negotiate a deal that would protect residents from them.

A two-alarm fire at EMR’s metal shredder in May prompted city officials to temporarily shutter the facility. But the company fought back in court, and a judge allowed the company to reopen after making some fire safety upgrades. Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed a bill requiring EMR and other scrap metal facilities in New Jersey to limit the height of its scrap piles to 20 feet.

Since then, a fire broke out at an EMR junkyard in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and two subcontractors were injured while working at an EMR location in Camden.

Journalists Sophia Schmidt, Katrina Janco and Kimberly Paynter will discuss the reporting behind the investigative project and their ongoing coverage at “Camden’s Burning Issue: WHYY News and The Margin Bring the Community Together.”

The event, Thursday, Sept. 10 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Camden FireWorks, 1813 S. Broadway in Camden, is free to attend, though registration is required.