An Oklahoma City recycling center’s proposal to replace its equipment has sparked tensions among city staff, the scrapyard’s lawyers, and residents protesting environmental injustice near the controversial site.
Derichebourg Recycling USA, located in northeast OKC at 100 N Bath Ave., has been seeking approval to replace its hydraulic scissor-like shearing machine for cutting and processing metal scrap, which property owners described as outdated. City staff, however, expressed concerns about the request, compelling the recycling plant to instead propose a new shear in the same location as the current one and reducing the new shear’s size.
But planners also argued that the new equipment would still qualify as an expansion because of increased output from the newer technology, rejecting the request and claiming a special permit would be necessary. Attorneys with Box Law Group, representing the recycling center, have now appealed the planning department’s decision twice…