Chicago's
Zoning Board of Appeals granted Pure Metal Recycling more
time on its application for a special use permit involving the company's
attempt to open a large shredding facility in Pilsen.
In late December, an attorney for Pure Metal Recycling asked that the hearing be postponed until this month at the request
of Ald. Danny Solis (25th), whose ward would house the proposed metal
shredder. The Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization
(PERRO) had requested that the aldermen ask for the delay, citing
environmental community concerns. The next Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on the matter is scheduled for January 17 at 2 p.m.
The
company is seeking a special use permit to establish a $30 million
metal recycling facility on 15 acres of land near Cermak Road and Loomis
Street by the South Branch of the Chicago River. It would be nearly
across the street from Benito Juarez Academy, 1510 W. Cermak Rd., and a
few blocks from another metal shredding facility, Sims Metal Management,
at 2500 S. Paulina St.
Some community members say the new scrap
metal factory would be a step back when it comes to the recent
environmental progress in Pilsen, such as shutting down the Fisk coal-fired power plant as well as cleaning up the H. Kramer copper smelting foundry and the former Lowenthal Metals site.
"There's
no zero-emissions shredder," Nelson Soza of the community group Pilsen
Alliance said in remarks after the December 20 meeting. "These metals are going
to be particles that are going to fly into the air. These folks use
water to suppress that, but there is no 100 percent assurance ... that
this is going to be completely clean."
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A 
Ten percent of water samples taken from the 65 beaches and beach
segments of Illinois in 2012 tested positive for high levels of
bacteria, according to a new report from the 
Illinois’ 