Warnings about C6-Zero started 2 years before Marengo explosion

The same month C6-Zero founder Howard C. Brand III told Iowa officials his shingle recycling business had a “clean bill of health” in other states, he was facing extradition from Iowa to Texas on criminal charges that included illegal dumping of shingles.

Brand and his company now have been sued by the Iowa Attorney General to try to force him to comply with an emergency order to clean up petroleum products and other toxic chemicals at the site of a Dec. 8, 2022, explosion in Marengo.

The clock is ticking because while most of the contaminants are corralled in a retention basin for now, Marengo this spring will need to release water into the Iowa River, which supplies drinking water to downstream communities including Iowa City.

The question that continues to resurface since the blast that injured up to 15 people and forced an evacuation of nearby homes is whether local, state or federal officials could have done more to prevent it.

Brand was on regulators’ radar more than two years before the explosion, a Gazette review shows, and red flags continued to pop up about his operations. Iowa and federal officials communicated about his environmental problems in other states, but apparently didn’t understand the risks of the Iowa operation and did not force the issue.

“Now it’s pretty clear to me they could have demanded more information a bit sooner, but they kept going by and not seeing anything happen,” Shannon Roesler, a University of Iowa professor of environmental and natural resources law, said about the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. “Do we give them the benefit of the doubt? I don’t know.”

‘Additional concerns developed’

Local, state and national officials share responsibility for making sure businesses and people don’t pollute the water, soil or air.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 7 office in Kansas City sent a letter to C6-Zero on Dec. 3, 2020, in response to the facility’s plan “ … to take used and off-spec shingles and return them to their base ingredients for reuse,” the Iowa DNR noted in a Dec. 15 emergency order.

Later in December 2020, the EPA’s Region 8, in Denver, got in touch with Region 7 and told it about some environmental issues with Brand and previous versions of his company, the EPA told The Gazette. Colorado regulators determined Brand Technologies was violating the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act by stockpiling asphalt shingles at a site in Windsor, Colo.

He later moved shingles to Florence, Colo., more than two hours away, which also was a violation if done without a permit, Laura Dixon, spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, told The Gazette last month.

“Region 7 shared this information with its state partners, and IDNR was working to assure the facility’s compliance prior to the Dec. 8 incident,” the EPA said. “EPA and state partners coordinate closely to protect human health and the environment and prioritize compliance.”

That communication between the EPA and Iowa DNR happened Jan. 6, 2021, the EPA said.

The department’s staff based in Washington, Iowa, started trying to get in contact with Brand in spring 2021, records show. When officials drove by the Marengo site, they didn’t see any piles of shingles outside.

“Based on the DNR’s conversations with other parties in other states, the DNR’s initial concern with the C6-Zero operation was the stockpiling of shingles as a solid waste disposal matter,” the department said. “Additional concerns developed as the DNR learned more about the alleged operation and the company’s operations in other states.”

But there were other warnings.

Brand taken to jail in Iowa

In the month since the fire, Brand has declined requests to talk with The Gazette and other media outlets. C6-Zero spokesman Mark Corallo said Friday that Brand would not be available for an interview.

On April 30, 2021, the Iowa County Sheriff’s Office arrested Brand during a traffic stop at the C6-Zero site based on a warrant from Texas, public records show. Texas had charged Brand with being a “fugitive from justice” related to 2019 charges of theft of $2,500 to less than $30,000, and illegal dumping over 1,000 pounds, according to records in Bexar County, Texas, and Iowa County.

Brand was booked into the Iowa County Jail and Magistrate Kandyce Smolik decided May 3, 2021, to hold him without bail until May 10, 2021, so Texas could make plans to move him back to Bexar County. But on May 5, 2021, Brand was released after Texas officials said they did not plan to extradite.

A few days later, on May 13, 2021, Brand told Iowa DNR officials in a phone call his business was not subject to Iowa solid waste or other regulations and that it had a “clean bill of health” in other states where it had previously operated, including Texas, Louisiana and Colorado,“ the Iowa DNR reported.

The department told Brand it would be “necessary to set up a meeting to discuss the company’s permitting requirements prior to operations commencing.” The agency asked again in June 2021 for a meeting. The meeting was finally scheduled for Sept. 20, 2021, but C6-Zero canceled it.

The criminal charges against Brand were dismissed Jan. 27, 2022, in exchange for Brand paying a $27,500 administrative penalty for dumping used shingles in Elmendorf, Texas, said Gary Rasp, spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

C6-Zero had a small fire Oct. 25, which the Marengo Fire Department put out, according to Mark Swift, treasurer for the volunteer agency.

“It was the same kind of fire,” he said, meaning the smaller blaze also involved chemicals being used in the building.

The Gazette asked the Iowa DNR Dec. 12 and 13, as well as again on Friday, whether the agency knew about the Oct. 25 fire. Spokeswoman Tammie Krausman did not respond.

Brand has a patent application, US 11548189 B2, that describes in depth the process he planned to use to employ proprietary chemicals to dissolve shingles into oil, sand and fiberglass.

Regulating in rural America

Some environmental regulations run on the honor system. Certain types of businesses are required to get state or federal permits, but some fly under the radar — especially in rural areas.

“There are fewer people who might be seeing the pollution,” said Michael Schmidt, attorney for the Iowa Environmental Council.

The Iowa DNR did a satellite study of animal confinements in the state in 2017 and discovered an additional 5,000 operations, some of which were large enough that their owners should have applied for construction permits. This example comes to mind when Schmidt thinks of the potential peril of rural regulation.

“If you never apply, the state doesn’t know that you should be reporting,” he said.

While Marengo officials knew a new company had taken over the industrial site near the fairgrounds on E. South Street, the city doesn’t have a building inspection department and relies on the state for environmental regulation.

Local emergency responders did not know what kind of chemicals were stored at the site or what was in the solvent that ignited Dec. 8. Those descriptions would likely have been part of the permitting process — if it had happened.

The city now has a contaminated site, where the cleanup timeline is uncertain and Eastern Iowa emergency responders have $600,000 in damaged gear after fighting the petroleum and chemical fire, Iowa County Emergency Management Coordinator Josh Humphrey said.

Research confirms poor air quality and water quality disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities.

“Isolated rural communities are potentially vulnerable in the same respect,” the UI’s Roesler said.

C6-Zero should never have brought chemicals or shingles on site without the appropriate permits, she said. “This is an egregious example of non-compliance with regulatory laws and policies,” she said.

EPA steps in

While its debatable whether state regulators provided enough oversight of C6-Zero before the explosion, the state and feds now are applying a full-court press. The EPA joined the probe Dec. 20 when it sent a letter to C6-Zero formally requesting information.

The agency wants to know exactly what happened to cause the explosion, a damage estimate and what is in on-site chemicals, including “Kaniksu,” the solvent Brand has used to try to dissolve shingles.

The EPA also is seeking extensive records, including C6-Zero’s inspection reports, copies of permits and training documentation. The agency expects the company to answer all the questions by Jan. 24 or face possible penalties.

“We are working diligently on the EPA’s request and anticipate meeting the Jan. 24 deadline,” Corallo, the spokesman for C6-Zero, said Thursday.

Corallo has said that since the explosion, C6-Zero is cleaning up the site. He said the company is “shocked and disappointed” by Iowa’s lawsuit, which he said isn’t needed to force action.

“In the past week, including yesterday morning (Jan. 11), C6-Zero has held two in-person walk-throughs on site with IDNR intended to finalize the mitigation plan and address the emergency order, with which we are fully complying,” Corallo said in an email.

In Schmidt’s previous experience as a staff attorney for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, regulators only file a lawsuit as a last resort. “It’s usually a sign the regulated party is not complying,” he said.

C6-Zero timeline

Dec. 3, 2020: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sends a letter to C6-Zero requesting information about hazardous wastes that may be involved in the company’s plan to recycle used shingles.

Dec. 17, 2020: EPA Region 8, based in Denver, contacts Region 7, based in Kansas City and overseeing Iowa, about C6-Zero and affiliated companies owned by Howard C. Brand III.

Jan. 6, 2021: EPA shares with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources correspondence with the Criminal Enforcement Counsel of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality about C6-Zero. Based on these conversations, Iowa DNR focuses on whether C6-Zero is stockpiling shingles in Marengo.

April 30, 2021: Authorities arrest Brand in a traffic stop at C6-Zero based on a warrant for his arrest on criminal charges in Bexar County, Texas, for theft and illegal dumping.

May 5, 2021: Brand is released from custody after Texas decides they no longer want to extradite Brand.

May 2021: Iowa DNR staff tour the Marengo site and talk with C6-Zero officials by phone. Founder Brand tells the department the company has a “clean bill of health” in Texas, Louisiana, and Colorado. No shingles are observed at the Marengo building.

June-December 2021: Iowa DNR tries to hold permitting meeting with C6-Zero, which says it is not yet operational. Company cancels September 2021 meeting. Iowa DNR staff drive by facility and do not see stored shingles outside.

Jan. 27, 2022: Brand pays restitution in Texas and theft and illegal dumping charges are dismissed.

April 7, 2022: C6-Zero staff refuse to allow Iowa DNR officials to inspect the facility.

May 24, 2022: Jeff Boeyink, former chief of staff to Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, emails Iowa DNR to say it will be helping C6-Zero “navigate the regulatory environment of Iowa.”

May 26, 2022: Iowa DNR meets with C6-Zero about multiple environmental concerns at the site, which still is not permitted.

July 1, 2022: C6-Zero legal counsel tells the state C6-Zero isn’t subject to regulation, despite expectations the company would process 800 tons of shingles per day.

Oct. 25, 2022: A small fire occurs at the C6-Zero site.

Nov. 9, 2022: Iowa DNR staff tour C6-Zero site, but company halts tour midway and won’t let state regulators see part of the facility. Iowa DNR tells C6-Zero that to be e legitimate recycler, the company has to prove someone is willing to buy the end product. No documentation is provided.

Dec. 8, 2022: A blast and fire at the C6-Zero injures up to 15 employees and causes an evacuation of nearby houses. More than 20 fire departments come to help extinguish the blaze.

Dec. 15, 2022: Iowa DNR issues emergency order requiring C6-Zero to stabilize facility and make a plan to clean up site.

Dec. 31, 2022: C6-Zero misses deadline to file environmental site assessment plan.

Jan. 3: EcoSource, a Des Moines-area company, filed the plan on behalf of C6-Zero. Company says cleanup, if started now, would take until March.

Jan. 4: DNR refers C6-Zero case to the Iowa Attorney General, which has the authority to pursue larger penalties, including fines and criminal prosecution.

Sources: Iowa Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, court records.

Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com