Court Allows CHASE, SELC to Join Suit against Metro Green

STONECREST, Ga. — Last week a DeKalb County Superior Court granted Citizens for a Healthy and Safe Environment’s (CHASE) motion to intervene in the ongoing challenge against Metro Green Recycling.

On behalf of CHASE, an organization focused on protecting communities in south DeKalb County from environmental injustices, the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) filed the motion in the City of Stonecrest’s case in late November, challenging the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s (EPD) refusal to consider whether to revoke Metro Green’s solid waste handling permit.

“We are glad to have the opportunity to move forward with our challenge against the environmental injustices that our neighborhoods are already facing as a result of Metro Green’s facility,” said Renee Cail, President of CHASE. “We look forward to presenting our case, ensuring that the interests of south DeKalb communities are finally represented and that our voices will continue to be heard.”

Metro Green’s facility is currently under construction in the backyards and directly across the street from thousands of Black neighbors in Stonecrest and unincorporated DeKalb County, many of whom have lived in the area for decades. The facility would accept 400 tons of waste every day, generating noise, dust, and fine particulate matter, and heavy metals and chemicals that could contaminate an on-site tributary of the South River.

In joining the City of Stonecrest’s suit, CHASE and SELC are charging that Metro Green concealed and misrepresented important information to EPD when it applied for its state solid waste handling permit, and that EPD has the authority to revoke the facility’s permit.

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About Southern Environmental Law Center: For more than 30 years, the Southern Environmental Law Center has used the power of the law to champion the environment of the Southeast. With over 80 attorneys and nine offices across the region, SELC is widely recognized as the Southeast’s foremost environmental organization and regional leader. SELC works on a full range of environmental issues to protect our natural resources and the health and well-being of all the people in our region. www.SouthernEnvironment.org

About Citizens for a Healthy and Safe Environment: Citizens for a Healthy and Safe Environment (CHASE), a local chapter of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL), works to diminish the unequal distribution of environmental quality between individuals and groups who are negatively impacted by exposure to environmental risks and hazards and ecological disasters with a distinct focus on environmental justice, mobilization and protest.