Residents in Benson, Arizona, are up in arms about a proposed aluminum processing plant they say could pollute their air and deplete their water.
In fact, they’re so mad about it, they’re trying to recall the mayor and City Council over the issue.
Aluminum Dynamics is preparing to build a $190 million recycling plant in the 5,500-person city in an area zoned for heavy industrial use.
At a recent public hearing over the issue, the Arizona Republic reported that residents essentially begged Arizona Department of Environmental Quality officials to deny the company’s air quality permit application.
But Terri Jo Neff says it might be too little, too late. Neff is a reporter for Herald Review Media in Cochise County.
Full conversation
TERRI JO NEFF: Even though all of the legal notices were complied with, there really wasn’t the level of public notice or public information about what Aluminum Dynamics intended to do that that’s partially on the part of the company, but also city officials just kind of, you know, got the application. It went through planning and zoning, and hey, all hunky dory. So we had that problem that just suddenly it was approved.
The other, the other real concern is environmental, and I say that both as air pollution or, you know, dangers in the air, but also the water usage with the plant. This is located very close, Lauren, to the San Pedro River.
LAUREN GILGER: Right. OK, so tell us about this recent public hearing. I’m seeing news coverage about where residents, you know, were meeting with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, really got to voice their concerns. It sounds like they were basically begging officials to deny this company’s permit. What did you hear from folks?
NEFF: Well, part of the issue there is that the public again, because of the lack of information, really came into this at the last minute and they don’t really understand what ADEQ’s responsibilities are. And the state agency, they came down here at the end of July and they held a public information hearing totally different than the public hearing that they have to conduct just to try to help folks understand the permitting process and what ADEQ can do and can’t do.
And I think the frustration then came out last week when there was the actual public hearing because folks just suddenly realize, gosh, this really seems like a done deal. They really were kind of begging these state employees to find some way to delay it, if not actually stop it, and of course that’s not their function.
GILGER: Right, right. So, it sounds like this might happen regardless of the protestations of anybody living in the area. Is that the process like who gets to decide here? It’s already been zoned. Is there anything left for residents to do?
NEFF: Well, there is the real possibility of legal action, which, which I don’t think is going to happen in this case until ADEQ actually issues their permit, you know, it’s going to go to the EPA for that final checks and balance sign off, make sure everything’s initialed and dated, but it does really sound as if it is going to get the permit that it needs to operate.
The issue with that though is that in the meantime, kind of what can the public do and folks are really, and this is hundreds of people in the greater Benson area who are finally really paying attention. It’s frustrating for a lot of folks, but we will know in a couple of, well, now actually because the deadline for comments has been extended. They’re adding almost four more weeks of public comments, and I think some people are seeing that as maybe that Hail Mary effort.
GILGER: Tell us about Benson. It’s a small city, 5,000 people or so. It’s pretty rural. The folks there, you said they’re worried about environmental issues. What are they worried it will do to life in this small community?
NEFF: Well, I think there’s a few different factions again that have their issues with the project. One is just the aesthetics of it. We are talking 100-foot smokestacks, an 88-foot building, you know, a big metal building, that is going to dwarf anything else in the area.
However, it is actually built in an area or is going to be built in an area that for the last 60 years has been zoned exactly for this kind of heavy industrial. It’s right on the railroad spur, which is what they need for this particular business. It’s on city water. It has electricity that it can be hooked up to. So it’s in the right area if you’re going to bring something like this into your town.
And you mentioned jobs. Yes, they’re talking dozens of jobs, the majority of which will not require any specialized training or education ahead of time.
GILGER: So it could employ some people in that community.
NEFF: Yeah, but it is also close to the nursing home. It is close to a lot of lower income housing, both apartment complexes and just decades-old homes. And so those folks are also feeling a little disenfranchised because they haven’t had a voice in this whole process.
GILGER: So much so that residents have started a recall effort against the city’s mayor, the city’s council, right?
NEFF: They have, and in the interesting part there, Lauren, is that none of this went to the City Council because under the rules that have been in place for years there was nothing for the City Council to approve. And for them to try to get involved now and try to put their thumb on, you know, on the scale could end up in litigation on the reverse side from Aluminum Dynamics.
GILGER: What does the company had to say about this reaction?
NEFF: I think they have been caught off guard by the fact that they were able to fly under the radar, and I don’t mean that they did anything nefarious, but this has been in place or in plans since last summer, summer of 2024. They had their planning and zoning hearing that they needed for the height issues in November of 2024.
And it really didn’t become public until May and then it really blew up in June when a few ladies in the Benson area said, “Hey, wait a minute, what about all this environmental stuff?” And demanded answers. So the company has tried to stay with the facts, but they have not engaged in the kind of debates that you might see other businesses try to do.
GILGER: Yeah, OK. Well, it sounds like there is more to watch for on this front.
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