A federal judge Tuesday tossed out a lawsuit filed against the city of Chicago by the owner of a metal-shredding facility that wants to operate in the city.

       Southside Recycling, formerly known as General Iron, wanted the federal court to force Chicago to issue a permit that would allow the company to open a facility in a Southeast Side neighborhood.

       “The city’s failure to issue the permit to Southside Recycling has caused significant and potentially permanent damage to Southside Recycling’s business,” the company said in the lawsuit filed last month which sought more than $100 million in damages.

       U.S. District Judge Robert Dow Jr. rejected the company’s claim its constitutional rights are being violated because Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration is delaying a decision on a permit while environmental studies are conducted. The move was taken at the request of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

       Site of a scrap shredder under construction by Reserve Management Group on the Southeast Side on Oct. 29, 2020. The land is part of the former Republic Steel/LTV steel mill. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

       Citing a recent Supreme Court case, Dow noted the process hasn’t been finalized, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

       “Until the government makes up its mind, a court will be hard pressed to determine whether the plaintiff has suffered a constitutional violation,” Dow wrote.

       Junked automobiles, used appliances and other metallic waste would be shredded at the plant. Opponents say granting a permit to Southside Recycling would amount to environmental racism because it would move a polluting business from Lincoln Park, a white, wealthy neighborhood, to a Latino-majority community.

       In a statement, the owner of Southside Recycling, Ohio-based Reserve Management Group, said the company will seek a ruling in state court ordering the city to issue a permit to allow operation of the plant.

       “The decision to dismiss acknowledged the appropriateness of the City’s choice to cooperate with the EPA’s request for additional analysis,” the city law department said in a statement.

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