General Iron receives three-year permit extension

According to multiple local reports, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has awarded a three-year extension that would allow General Iron Industries to continue operating its Clybourn Avenue yard in Chicago. While the company has announced plans to relocate to the city’s Southeast Side within the next year, the permit extension would allow General Iron to continue operating on Clybourn Avenue for an additional three years should the deal to relocate fall through.

The new proposed location at Burley Avenue and 116th Street is on land owned by Ohio-based Reserve Management Group (RMG), which operates a scrap metal processing facility at the site. The companies formed a strategic partnership in July.

An article in the Chicago Tribune notes the General Iron facility on Clybourn has been cited as recently as last year for multiple violations of the Clean Air Act, including air emissions at its shredder that exceeded allowable limits. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also found that General Iron failed to install adequate air pollution controls and to obtain the correct air pollution permit.