EAST SIDE — A controversial Southeast Side metal scrapper will remain closed for now, as a city judge’s decision to overturn the company’s permit denial did not mean the company will automatically receive the permit, a county court ruled this week.
Southside Recycling faced a setback in its push to open at 11600 S. Burley Ave. in East Side as Cook County Circuit Court Judge Allen Walker decided Thursday a June ruling from administrative law judge Mitchell Ex does not guarantee the company will receive an operating permit.
Former public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady denied Southside Recycling an operating permit in February 2022. The facility was set to take on troubled Lincoln Park scrapper General Iron’s assets and employees.
The permit denial came after a years-long Deny the Permit campaign led by Southeast Side residents.
Southside Recycling and parent company Reserve Management Group spent $80 million to build the East Side facility after former Mayors Rahm Emanuel and Lori Lightfoot’s administrations gave substantial support to the plans, company officials said.
The company appealed the denial in the city’s administrative hearings court. Administrative law judge Mitchell Ex ruled June 1 that Southside Recycling met the rules and requirements to receive a permit and overturned the denial, saying Arwady’s decision wasn’t backed by city law.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration appealed Ex’s ruling on June 30, citing the Southeast Side’s vulnerability to air pollution and the community’s pollution burden.
Walker did not find that Ex’s order “requires … the permit be issued,” the county judge said during Thursday’s hearing on the city’s appeal. “The language of the order as read previously simply vacates the prior denial of the permit.”
The next hearing in the case is set for Nov. 14.
Spokespeople for the Mayor’s Office and the city’s health and law departments did not immediately respond to Block Club’s questions. A Southside Recycling spokesperson declined comment.
Southside Recycling has sued the city for more than $100 million in damages in a separate case, alleging the city breached its 2019 agreement to help the company move to the Southeast Side.
“Damages continue to accrue every day” the facility remains closed, company spokesperson Randall Samborn said in June. That case is on hold as the city’s appeal of Ex’s decision continues.
The city’s agreement with the federal government to pursue environmental justice reforms — spurred by a civil rights complaint over the city’s assistance to Southside Recycling — could be voided if the city voluntarily allows the scrapper to open.
A voided agreement would risk millions in future federal funding for initiatives such as fair housing programs and accessibility services.
If a court orders the city to grant Southside Recycling its permit, city officials must meet with the feds and activists to discuss next steps, according to the agreement.
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