Environmental impacts of a scrapyard loom in Camden, N.J.

The settlement would have allowed the company to restart its scrap metal shredder. Residents say they’re left wondering what happens next.

EMR sued Camden after the city suspended the company’s junkyard license following its latest fire.

City officials cut a deal meant to protect residents with the scrap metal company. It didn't. “We let them down,” EMR USA CEO Joe Balzano said.

The lawsuit, filed by three Camden residents, claimed “noxious emissions” from EMR interfered with the use of their properties.

The company said the order to pause its scrap metal shredder has cost it around $10 million and will lead to layoffs if it continues.

The city suspended EMR’s junkyard license for the facility where the latest fire occurred, and will reevaluate the suspension next month.

The May fire was the latest of over a dozen at facilities run by EMR in Camden since 2020. The suspension will be reevaluated in early July.

The order comes after city, county and state elected officials called on government agencies to shut EMR’s Camden operations.

A spokesperson for Camden’s mayor said the city is “undertaking all necessary legal research to move forward” with revoking EMR’s city licensure.

The statement comes days after a fire at one of EMR’s scrap metal facilities — one of more than a dozen over the past five years.

The company’s statement came after city and county officials called on EMR to “fully cease” operating due to the latest fire.

The mobile air monitoring project aims to identify hot spots of pollution in four overburdened communities in New Jersey, including Camden.

The bill would require scrap metal facilities to install heat detection equipment that could identify fires early, as well as develop fire safety plans.

The bills would require facilities like the EMR scrapyard in Camden to take fire safety precautions and come under new state regulation.

Attorney General Matt Platkin filed the suit nearly a year after a major blaze at the Camden scrapyard.