ROCKTON, Ill. — More than a year after a six-alarm fire destroyed much of a northern Illinois chemical plant, we now know exactly what burned.
The Chemtool, Inc. plant in Rockton burned for over a week in June of 2021, forcing many to evacuate and costing dozens of people their jobs. A new report shows a majority of the material emitted by the fire was carbon dioxide, but water, smoke-particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and multiple other compounds were also emitted.
RELATED: Cause of Rockton chemical plant fire ruled accidental
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, Chemtool’s parent company Lubrizol said that there was ‘no health risk’ from the materials burned in the fire. The company later said that air sampling further showed no negative health risks to the surrounding community.
RELATED: Testing, cleanup ongoing at Chemtool plant; air samples show no negative health risks
The incident prompted a massive response, and a massive cleanup — one that Chemtool is still paying for.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Winnebago County State’s Attorney J. Hanley announced an order in April that forced the company to reimburse the state and local agencies that responded to the fire.
Chemtool also has to get approval to dispose of any remaining chemicals at the plant, document how waste is being disposed of, and create a demolition and decontamination plan for the site. Violations of the order could result in fines of $400 per day per violation for up to 15 days, at which point fines would increase.
RELATED: Chemtool ordered to repay multiple agencies that responded to massive plant fire
As part of the order, Chemtool released a report Monday detailing what product burned during the fire, and the emissions produced. The report found that over 15 million pounds of product burned.
The full report can be found here or below.
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