“It just felt like we had to try something.” That mindset drove Newport residents to take on a scrap metal shredder, and over the years of work, their grassroots effort produced answers.
When Newport residents saw a problem in their community, they banded together in search of a solution. Not for one issue, but for three identified surrounding River Metals Recycling, known locally as RMR, at 1220 Licking Pike in Newport.
The residents initially used the court system, prompting RMR to move its shredding operations to Cincinnati, addressing the noise component of the problem. Then, they used Northern Kentucky University to help facilitate soil sampling and partnered with the Federal Environmental Protection Agency Region 4 to conduct air quality testing around RMR.
Both the air quality and soil testing results, shared with Newport residents in February, showed pollution near RMR stayed below federal danger levels, while still revealing some patterns tied to the facility…