EMR agrees to pay City of Camden $6.7M following four-alarm blaze in its scrap yard

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Camden officials announced that they reached an agreement with the operator of a metal recycling yard, where a massive fire took place in February.

Under the $6.7 million deal, EMR will improve and enhance the fire suppression system at its facility and reimburse the city fire department for damages incurred while fighting the blaze.

Mayor Vic Carstarphen said at a news conference Thursday that his administration has been convening with the company and the community in the Waterfront South neighborhood since the fire broke out.

“My administration is pro-actively working with EMR to outline the path of changes that will safeguard against the threat of future events,” he said.

EMR also agreed to reduce its overall footprint in the city by nine acres, increase inspections of materials being brought on to the site, limit what can be stored at the site and reduce the height of the shredding piles. The company has agreed to work with residents in the Waterfront South neighborhood and invest more than $3 million into the community. It also promised to develop a text notification system and hold an annual open house for community leaders.

The agreement will be put in writing within the next 45 days.

Carstarphen wanted to make clear that EMR is being held accountable.

“That will be my job, to make sure they’re held to these commitments,” he said.

But residents are critical and skeptical of the agreement.

“How do you put a price tag on people’s health and safety and peace of mind?” said Kristin Schrum, who lives near the scrap yard. “It’s a giant Band-Aid of money, but that’s all it still feels like.”

Schrum and several of her neighbors have been calling for accountability from EMR since the four-alarm blaze that prompted more than 100 families from the surrounding neighborhood to evacuate their homes. Residents brought their concerns to a recent Camden City Council meeting, where an ordinance regulating how lithium-ion batteries are handled was passed.

“The fact that the Emergency Alert System is promised just feels again like I have my go bag packed for my husband and my children and I,” she said. “When am I going to need to use it?”

The conversation with the community will continue, said Carlos Morales, executive director of the nonprofit Heart of Camden. He credited community pressure as a cause for the agreement.

“We will demand that EMR, Joe Balzano himself, come and meet with the residents of this neighborhood and talk to them about the improvements, about those commitments that the mayor just talked about,” he said. “It’s a good first step. We’ve got a long road ahead.”

Balzano, the CEO of EMR, was not at the news conference but said in a statement that the agreement “strengthens our commitment to the Waterfront South neighborhood and underscores my dedication to keeping our site safe.”

“This is a long-term agreement in partnership with the city to deliver positive change to residents of Camden who were adversely impacted by the fire on Feb. 21,” he said in the statement.

Schrum said neither Balzano nor EMR has reached out to her neighborhood since the company issued an apology.

“There’s been no rescheduled monthly meetings that EMR would have to reach out to the community,” she said. “There’s been no nothing from him to community members.”