The Margin

White ash fell from the sky like snow. The air tasted like char.
When Christina Allen returned home to her Camden, New Jersey neighborhood last year, she walked through a cloud of toxic smoke pouring from a four-alarm fire at a nearby scrap metal facility — a fire so large it took nearly 20 fire companies nine hours to put out.

It was one of 14 major fires at EMR's facilities since 2020. In a neighborhood where more than half of residents are Black, and roughly a third are Hispanic or Latino. Where a third of residents live below the poverty line. There's also a childcare center, an elementary school, and a homeless shelter — all within blocks of the plant.

After the February 2025 blaze, Camden officials struck a deal they said would protect the community. Months later, EMR's shredder caught fire again. The suppression system that the company had promised malfunctioned.

"If I had the money, I would move," one lifelong resident told us.

She can't afford to.

Our new investigation — produced in collaboration with WHYY News — follows the residents of Camden's Waterfront South neighborhood as they breathe toxic smoke, navigate broken promises from elected officials, and wait to find out whether their city will finally shut EMR down for good.

📖 Read "Up in Smoke":

Up in Smoke - The Margin After years of fires, Camden city officials negotiated a deal to protect a predominantly Black and Brown community from toxic fumes. It didn’t.