HUD official to Chicago: delay General Iron’s final permit
A bulldozer worker moves scrap metal at General Iron Industries in Chicago, Illinois on FEB 12, 2011. (Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images / Getty Images)
CHICAGO - Chicago should delay a final operating permit to the owner of a scrap shredder while the government looks into whether a pending move to the city’s southeast side would violate the rights of residents there, a U.S. Housing and Urban Development official said.
In a letter to the city’s law department, Lon Meltesen, director of HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity in Chicago, said a city permit likely would hurt a civil rights inquiry into General Iron’s proposed move, the Chicago Tribune reported.
HUD officials last month confirmed they were investigating after community groups filed a complaint saying the business’ move from a wealthy, largely white neighborhood to a low-income, predominantly Latino neighborhood violated federal fair housing laws.
The complaint alleges the city is aiding the transfer of the metal-shredding operations with a history of pollution problems to the southeast side through an agreement signed with the business’ owner last year.
“The city’s actions to facilitate this transfer are central to this complaint,” Meltesen wrote in a letter last week. “Any further actions to this effect could frustrate efforts to settle this matter.”
Meltesen said a preliminary review of the complaint brought against the city found “persuasive” evidence that the transfer would cause “serious and irreparable injury” to the complaining groups and the neighborhoods they represent.
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Under an agreement with the city signed a year ago, General Iron will stop accepting scrap metal at its North Side location at the end of the year and begin dismantling its operation there.
Owner Reserve Management Group is building a new southeast side shredding operation but needs a final city permit for so-called metal recycling. The company wants the new site to begin operating within the first three months of 2021.
RMG this month agreed to pay $18,000 to settle its outstanding complaints with the city.