Hunter
02/22/23
Despite a court-ordered deadline to turn over the information, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says they still haven’t received a list of the chemicals used at the C6-Zero asphalt shingle recycling plant when an explosion and fire occurred on December 8th.
The Des Moines Register reports that managers at the plant stonewalled state and local officials’ request for a list of hazardous materials on the site months before the blast. A 1980s-era federal law requires such lists so that firefighters and other emergency responders know what to expect in an accident like the one at the plant, which sent 20 people to the hospital and forced the evacuation of nearby homes.
Iowa Department of Natural Resources Director Kayla Lyon told an Iowa House appropriations subcommittee Monday they still don’t know what type of material C6-Zero was using, despite the company being ordered by a district judge to provide the information by February 17th.
C6-Zero spokesperson Mark Corallo has denied Lyon’s statement to the subcommittee, telling the Des Moines Register in an email that the company has given the state the list. He adds that the information is proprietary and protected by the court order, and the information has also been given to the EPA.
C6-Zero has paid an environmental firm over $400,000 for cleanup at the site, but the DNR says they’re paying that same firm over $830,000 to remove chemicals from a basin where water drained after the explosion and firefight. In addition, Iowa Homeland Security is paying $600,000 to replace firefighting gear damaged beyond repair by chemicals at the plant to the Marengo Fire Department and other responding agencies.