EPA had declared Muscatine County’s Nichols a Superfund site after testing of shallow wells.
116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
EPA had declared Muscatine County’s Nichols a Superfund site after testing of shallow wells.
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Besides petroleum products that have leaked from a Marengo explosion site, state regulators also are worried about toxic chemicals from foam used to fight the Dec. 8 blaze.
Company founder Howard Brand III was on regulators’ radar for two years before the explosion in Iowa.
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The lawsuit, filed in Iowa County, asks a judge to grant a temporary and permanent injunction to force C6-Zero and owner Howard Brand III to comply with a Dec. 15 emergency order from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, identify all chemicals at the site and allow the DNR access to the facility.
The Minnesota-based company 3M has announced it will phase out its use of PFAS -- known as “forever chemicals” -- because they don’t break down in the environment, and they linger in people’s bodies for years. But the question of how to clean them up could persist for years to come.
Last year was the 25th driest year on record, according to Iowa DNR report released Thursday. But this year is off to a good start.
EcoSource, a Des Moines-based firm hired by C6-Zero to assess environmental damage from the Dec. 8 blast, said it wouldn’t be able to finish cleaning up the site until March -- two months later than the Iowa Department of Natural Resources ordered.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources referred C6-Zero to the Attorney General’s Office for legal action this week after the company said it could not meet deadlines for cleaning up the site.
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