State and local regulators will be joined by C6-Zero representatives for a hearing Monday in Iowa County over whether a judge should force the company to comply with an emergency order to clean up the site of a Dec. 8 explosion and fire.
Firefighters forced entry into the home, found the fire in a kitchen area and extinguished it.
Cedar Rapids firefighter Jesse Lennox is the first Iowa firefighter to become a certified smoke diver. Smoke diver training is an elite week-long training program in Georgia that goes far above and beyond normal required training for firefighters.
In the seven months before the explosion and fire that injured 15 people and left an environmental mess, Jeff Boeyink -- a partner at Des Moines-based public relations and lobbying firm LS2group and Branstad’s chief of staff from 2010 to 2013 -- wrote to DNR leaders and Marengo officials at least 10 times on behalf of C6-Zero to answer questions, allay concerns and invite officials to tour the site, according to emails obtained by The Gazette.
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.
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.
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.
Stuart James Netolicky, 44, was found dead last Tuesday after crews were called to a fire at 95 Gulf View Court.
A Marengo company whose workshop exploded and caught fire Dec. 8 failed to meet a state deadline of Friday for filing a report about how owners plan to clean up the area, which state regulators called a “clear threat to public health and the environment.”
The Iowa River does not show signs of pollution from the Dec. 8 blast at a Marengo workshop that had large stores of petroleum products, officials said.
Troy Roth, a 21-year veteran of the Iowa City Fire Department, where he most recently served as captain, succeeds Brian Greer, who retired as fire marshal in November after serving 31 years with the agency.
Crews quickly extinguish living room fire, also find three dogs dead
Two weeks after an explosion and fire in a Marengo workshop injured up to 15 people and prompted an evacuation of nearby homes, local officials wonder who is going to pay for the long-term cleanup.
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