General Iron’s New Neighbor Hotline: 773-332-4379
At the recent RANCH community meeting, Adam Labkon of General Iron announced that General Iron would establish a community hotline for RANCH residents with complaints or questions. That hotline number is up and running and can be reached at 773-332-4379. Please call if you have a problem and remember that calling at the time of the problem or disturbance is a great way to isolate problems, notify General Iron and help everyone determine the cause of problems that may be coming from another local business.
Our meeting was productive in other ways as well. Mr. Labkon shared the changes and investment General Iron has made recently in order for General Iron to be a better neighbor. Last summer they completed the installation of a “hood” to remove steam from their grinder rather than have the cloud dispersed over our neighborhood. They have also moved the dump area for deliveries to the north side of their property to reduce noise for RANCH residents.
There is a question about the permissible noise level inside a manufacturing district. RANCH is working to clarify this issue.
Aldermen Scott Waguespack, Bob Fioretti and Michele Smith were in attendance and were helpful in addressing the issue. We thank the alderman for the help. Thanks as well to everyone who helped make for a productive meeting.
Some additional information:
– There are several metal recycling businesses in that area. General Iron is only the largest.
– In 2010 a long-term air quality study was done at the site of St. Josaphat, 2311 N. Southport Ave. The results of that study can be found here.
– The leather tannery at the corner of Elston and Ashland is still in operation. Ald. Waguespack believes noxious odors that residents may experience are a result of this tannery rather than the metal recyclers.
– The City of Chicago has closed the Department of the Environment. Those responsibilities have been spread across other city agencies.
– The hours of operation for the General Iron shredder are 7 am to 7 pm.
– General Iron has a permit from the EPA. That permit is a lifetime permit.
– Ald. Waguespack shared that he thinks it’s very unlikely the city would eliminate the PMD (Planned Manuacturing District) that is currently shared by General Iron, Finkl, the other metal scrappers, and the other businesses on that stretch of the river.
– General Iron accepts deliveries of recyclables 6 days a week.
– The Illinois EPA inspects General Iron annually. We invited the IEPA to attend our meeting and received no response.
– The city Department of Health visits General Iron monthly.
– General Iron doesn’t crush cars. Cars arrive crushed, mostly for ease of transport, and are then shredded at the General Iron site.
