Join the Letter in Support of San Antonio Task Force to Recommend Metal Recycler Emission Mitigation Measures
Public Citizen is gathering support in San Antonio for City Council Member Teri Castillo’s efforts to protect the city’s air from potential metal recycler pollution.
Castillo has submitted a Council Consideration Request (CCR). If the CCR is approved by the full City Council, it would create a task force that would recommend updates to city codes for preventing fires and controlling emissions. As part of this effort, Public Citizen’s organizer in San Antonio is circulating a sign-on letter for elected officials and organizations to lend their name in support of moving the CCR forward.
If you are an elected official or represent an organization and are interested in signing the letter, please email organizer Debra Ponce at dponce@citizen.org. The full text of the letter can be found below. Click here for Council Member Castillo’s CCR.
Mayor Nirenberg and Council Members,
Subject: Letter urging support for passing the Council Consideration Request submitted 11/27/2023 titled Updating City Codes for Used Automotive Recycling Parts Recyclers and Metal Recycling Entities.
The undersigned leaders and community members ask that you ensure San Antonians can breathe clean air by helping establish guidelines that can help control pollution from metal recycling facilities, many of which are on the south and west sides of our city.
District 5 Council Member Teri Castillo has filed a council consideration request to protect our communities from pollution. If implemented, the proposal would toughen local rules limiting harmful emissions from metal recyclers and encourage community engagement to keep residents safe and informed. Most importantly, it will send a message to the communities most at risk that their plight matters and San Antonio unites to improve their day-to-day lives. It is a crucial step in the right direction.
Fires from local metal recycling facilities have been a troubling issue for years. Each time there is an incident at a recycler, those closest to the smoke must endure unclean air for hours. Some families, especially those with children or loved ones with respiratory illnesses, are often forced to leave their homes when there is an incident at a recycler. Those unable to leave must stay, some struggling to breathe.
While hazardous air emissions are most dangerous to people working and living near these facilities, they also threaten the health of all residents throughout the city of San Antonio as air pollutants can travel hundreds of miles away from their source.
No one should live in fear for their health and safety in their home. We urge you to support Council Member Castillo’s request and stop pollution from auto and metal recyclers in this community.