Embattled scrap metal yard wants judge to dismiss case with Providence
Land also said that vessels identified in the a special order and additional vessels that were brought to the site from time to time have been removed.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Attorneys for an embattled scrap metal yard asked a judge on Monday to dismiss a two-year-old complaint against the business.
In March 2024, the city sent a cease and desist letter to Rhode Island Recycled Metals to halt all operations because the Providence business was operating without a junk shop license.
Mayor Brett Smiley’s administration took the business to R.I. Superior Court a month later to ask a judge to issue a temporary restraining order, arguing that the scrapyard was ignoring the cease and desist.
Attorneys for the scrapyard pushed back at the time, saying they had all the necessary permitting and didn’t need an additional license from the city.
Superior Court Judge Brian Stern ultimately denied the city’s request, and the scrapyard has been operating while the case is pending in court.
Gerard Decelles, an attorney for Recycled Metals, wrote in a filing on Monday that the case had simply “lain dormant for the last two years.” Online court records show that there was no activity in court between August 2025 and this February.
“However, the political football season is once again upon us, and pressure has been building for the city to do something,” Decelles wrote.
Decelles said the city “finally served” Recycled Metals “with its pleading” last month.
“Plaintiff’s prayers for temporary and injunctive relief have long been abandoned, and in
any event, subject to dismissal,” Decelles said.
Josh Estrella, a Smiley spokesperson, said in a statement Wednesday that the administration will continue to work with the court to enforce the cease and desist issued to them in 2024.
“Mayor Smiley remains committed to holding this facility accountable on behalf of all neighbors impacted by this business,” Estrella added.
Target 12 reached out to Decelles and a Recycled Metals spokesperson for comment on Tuesday and Wednesday but did not hear back.
The business has drawn the ire of South Providence residents after two major fires broke out at the facility in 2024.
The scrapyard had a massive overnight fire in April 2024, which the business initially suspected was arson. A second fire broke out just months later that July, prompting a judge to order the scrapyard to temporarily close, though the business reopened the following month.
When Recycled Metals was scheduled to appear before the Providence Board of Licenses last month, several residents who live nearby told the board their health had deteriorated because of the scrapyard, with a number of them claiming to have developed asthma. The scrapyard was on the agenda to seek a junk shop license, but never showed up.
No vote was taken and the matter has yet to be rescheduled.
Separate from its legal issues with the city, Recycled Metals has been in court with the state for over a decade. A special master was appointed in 2016 to oversee Recycled Metals’ cleanup plan after the company and state environmental regulators clashed over runoff from the site that was polluting the river.
Following the two fires on the property in 2024, a judge ordered the company to take additional steps to prevent or mitigate future fires.
Earlier this month, Special Master Richard Land filed a report to explain the work that had been done from April 1, 2025 through Feb. 28, 2026.
“Over the course of this proceeding, the tarps covering the soil piles, and the hay bales have been repaired and/or replaced as and when necessary,” Land wrote. “In addition, the ‘boom’ has been maintained and/or replaced, as necessary.”
Land also said that vessels identified in the a special order and additional vessels that were
brought to the site from time to time have been removed. He noted that “the waterfront is not presently used for any operational purpose.”
Additionally, Land said Recycled Metals submitted “a proposed, engineer-stamped, site development plan inclusive of a stormwater control system that takes into account existing contamination on the premises” to the R.I. Department of Environmental Management.
Land said RIDEM provided feedback to Recycled Metals about its site plan as the business also tried to get approval of its Remedial Action Work Plan “to address the remediation of environmental issues.”
As of April 1, neither plan had been approved, but Land said that “RIDEM has provided considerable feedback and has actively sought to move the matter forward.”
Courtesy: www.yahoo.com