General Iron meeting set for next week

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration will hold a meeting next week and is giving residents 30 days to comment on plans to open a car-shredding operation on the Southeast Side that will replace General Iron’s longtime home in Lincoln Park.

General Iron’s owner Reserve Management Group has filed an application with the city’s Department of Public Health for a final permit needed to open its car and metal-shredding business on East 116th Street along the Calumet River. The facility, which is under construction, is opposed by community groups concerned about additional pollution in an area that already suffers from poor air quality.

The city also will host a virtual public meeting at 6 p.m. Dec. 10 to discuss the process.

“I know this has been a long and complicated conversation,” Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Allison Arwady said in an interview. “There’s a community meeting scheduled, and the hope really is to help explain to folks about where we are interested in input.”

One community activist said she feared an online hearing with a little more than a week’s notice may be poorly attended.

“We’ve seen low turnout to previous virtual hearings because many people do not have access to the technology needed to attend,” said Olga Bautista, a Southeast Side resident and organizer. “The city and our elected officials do very little to make sure Spanish speakers, elderly residents and others know about it and participate.”

The public comment period began Monday and will run through Dec. 30. Written comments can be submitted to envcomments@ cityofchicago.org. The city also has posted RMG’s permit application and related documents online.

Public health officials are expected to post a draft of the permit online before issuing it and will take public comments for 30 days after that time, a city spokesman said.

RMG, which will rebrand the General Iron business Southside Recycling, has said it expects a rigorous city permit process.