On January 29, 2021, a plume of black smoke rose over the Camden Waterfront and downtown neighborhoods. The source was a fire that had started at the Eastern Metal Recycling site in a pile of “automotive fluff,” the shredded material that remains after all useful parts have been recovered. It took several hours for firefighting units to get the fire under control, giving ample time for noxious fumes to spread into residential neighborhoods and send three residents to Cooper University Hospital for smoke inhalation.
Following the incident and a subsequent investigation, the company was fined $97K by the county and state. However, this is not the first fire to break out at the site and residents are sure it will not be the last.
The fire raises the ongoing issue of environmental justice and the inequity of the pollution burden. As we live and work in the Camden community, is there anything we can do to help advocate and educate? In fact, there is! The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has a hotline (1.877.WARNDEP) and an app (WARNDEP) specifically to make reporting environmental hazards and pollutants a simple process. Everyone is encouraged to use this resource to call attention to environmental incidents, abuses, and complaints. More information is available here: https://www.nj.gov/dep/warndep.htm