“This morning, we were all awakened by a call that has come way too often for the residents of our community- another fire at the EMR scrap facility. This underscores the need for us to put residents first and ask the state Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and every other regulatory agency to shut down the operations inside this foreign conglomerate. We will not stand idly by while residents are exposed to fires on a regular basis and have to bear the burdens of an operation that clearly cannot function in a safe manner. We will no longer allow shelter in place alerts to go out because of another mishap in this scrap metal operation.
Enough is enough, we’ve heard the same stories before about lithium-ion batteries and their dangers, but that story line is old and irrelevant at this point. The city has worked with EMR in the past to try to improve their facility, but having another two-alarm fire that created smoke plumes throughout Camden County into Gloucester Township is unacceptable, having children and families exposed to the acrid smoke on their way to work and school is intolerable. Today we are calling for EMR to fully cease operating until they can guarantee the health and welfare of our residents will not be impacted by their facilities.”