Lawsuit against NJ recycling company now includes massive barge fire

A lawsuit against a New Jersey recycling company that owns facilities where several fires took place was amended to include a fire in February as well as a massive barge fire on the Delaware River earlier this month that sent plumes of smoke into the air.

In January 2026, the state of New Jersey filed a lawsuit against EMR, accusing the company of maintaining “hazardous conditions at its facilities” that “create a high risk of fires.”

EMR owns and operates metal recycling facilities that collect, process and recycle scrap metal.

According to state officials, at least 12 major fires have occurred in scrap metal piles at EMR facilities in Camden’s Waterfront South neighborhood in the past five years. One of the biggest fires started at the EMR facility on the 1400 block of South Front Street back on Feb. 21, 2025. The fire – which started from a two-story pile of scrap material that was supposed to be torn apart into smaller pieces – burned for over 12 hours and forced residents to evacuate and stay out of the area for weeks.

On Thursday, March 19, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced that the lawsuit against EMR was amended to include additional fires that occurred in recent weeks.

Those incidents include a fire at a shredder facility on Feb. 26, 2026, as well as an incident on March 10 in which scrap metal that was being carried on an EMR-owned barge on the Delaware Bay caught fire.

Officials say the fires have filled nearby streets with smoke and air pollution, creating an “ongoing public nuisance” that has impacted the health of residents in Camden.

“Camden residents should not have to live under the ongoing threat of fires that impact their quality of life and pose public health and safety risks,” said DEP Acting Commissioner Ed Potosnak. “Together with Attorney General Davenport and her team, the DEP will work to ensure that EMR is held accountable for its continued failure to prevent these fires from occurring.”

NBC10 reached out to EMR for a statement on the lawsuit’s amendment. We will include a response once we receive one.

An EMR spokesperson released a statement on the initial lawsuit in January.

“In August, after months of working cooperatively, the City of Camden and EMR entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to provide a comprehensive framework for fire suppression at our Camden shredder at a cost of $6.7 million,” the spokesperson wrote. “It appears the current Attorney General is not aware of the MOU and EMR’s fire suppression investments. We look forward to working with the State of New Jersey to address the scourge of lithium ion battery fires plaguing recycling facilities throughout the country. More than 500 people work for EMR in Camden including 150 Camden residents. The safety of our employees and the Camden community residents is our number one priority.”