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Iowa sues C6-Zero to recover $1.5M spent on Marengo cleanup
Removal of contaminated soil and water continues this fall
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is suing C6-Zero for $1.5 million the state paid toward environmental cleanup and equipment replacement after a Dec. 8, 2022, explosion and fire in Marengo.
And it will be at least a month before the blast site — now the responsibility of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — is cleared of contaminated water and soil, the agency reported this week.
The Iowa DNR filed a lawsuit against C6-Zero and owner Howard Brand on July 6, seeking to recover $892,740 the state paid to remove chemicals from 12 million gallons of water that washed from the fire into a retention basin.
The per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which can harm human health, came from firefighting foam used to fight the blaze at the C6-Zero facility. The water had to be treated before it was released into the Iowa River, which indirectly supplies drinking water to downstream communities including Iowa City.
The state also wants the court to require C6-Zero to repay $640,000 that the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management used to reimburse 20 agencies for firefighting equipment ruined by diesel fuel and a mysterious solvent used at the plant.
“In this action against defendants, the state of Iowa seeks to recover the excessive and extraordinary costs incurred by the state to reimburse the response teams for expenses incurred to replace the damaged equipment, and to remediate the contaminated stormwater runoff from the C6-Zero property contained in the Marengo stormwater detention basin,” the lawsuit states.
In an Aug. 18 response to the lawsuit, C6-Zero and Brand said the state’s damages were not caused by the defendants and the state had failed to mitigate its damages. A trial-scheduling conference is scheduled for Oct. 3 in Iowa County.
The explosion injured nine employees, caused an evacuation of nearby houses and polluted soil and water because of chemicals stored at the site, where C6-Zero was attempting to dissolve used shingles into oil, sand and fiberglass.
C6-Zero did not have a permit to operate Dec. 8, when a mechanical failure ignited flammable vapor. The plant’s sprinkler system, hydrants and alarms were not working at the time, according to first responders.
The Iowa Attorney General sued C6-Zero Jan. 11 to force cleanup, but that case was put on hold in May as the EPA said it would oversee removal of contaminated soil and water.
The work in Marengo is ongoing.
“C6-Zero resubmitted a disposal plan that EPA approved on Aug. 25,” Kellen Ashford, spokesperson for EPA Region 7, said in an email this week. “C6-Zero and its contractor are reevaluating their options for contaminated soil disposal. Response crews plan to re-initiate liquid waste disposal during the week of Sept. 11.”
One of the holdups in recent months has been finding a site to take liquid waste.
“C6-Zero, through their contractor, is shipping liquid wastes to a facility near Harper, Kansas, that is approved for Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Off-Site Rule disposals of non-hazardous waste,” Ashford reported.
The target date for C6-Zero to remove all waste off site is Oct. 11, the EPA said. Then the agency will decide if additional work is needed.
Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com
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