On the evening of August 21, 2025, Chris Giokaris hopped on the interstate heading southeast from his hometown of Tucson, Arizona. His destination was Benson, a town of about 5,500 people located 50 miles away. The small town is known as the gateway to the San Pedro Valley, in large part for the San Pedro River that winds its way north from Mexico as one of the last undammed rivers in the Sonoran Desert.

Now, Benson residents worry their region’s environment could soon be jeopardized by plans for a 200-acre aluminum recycling plant operated by Aluminum Dynamics, Inc., a subsidiary of Steel Dynamics, Inc., one of the United States’ largest steel producers and metals recyclers. The proposed development has garnered outcry from residents concerned about the facility’s location, projected emi

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