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Source: The Telegraph, Alton, Ill.新蒲崗迷你倉Aug. 01--HARTFORD -- The U.S. EPA will hold a public meeting next week to discuss a plan to clean up an ugly, black slag heap at the former site of the notorious Chemetco copper smelting plant."This is absolutely good news," said the on-site project coordinator, Kevin Turner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 6 at the Hartford Community Center, 715 N. Delmar Ave. The meeting will address a newly filed, federal decree regarding cleanup of what is now referred to as the Chemetco Superfund Site.The plant along Illinois Route 3 at New Poag Road closed, and the company filed for bankruptcy, about 12 years ago. The result was a Chemetco estate under the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. A lawyer, known as a trustee, has been acting on behalf of the estate.The federal and state governments agreed to a proposed consent decree with the Chemetco bankruptcy trustee and its work contractor, Paradigm Minerals and Environmental Services.The U.S. Department of Justice posted a public notice that said the proposed consent decree is a result of the federal and state government suits against Chemetco.The Justice Department said the proposed decree was filed in federal court on July 18. The degree would regulate the sale and reprocessing of slag and other metal-bearing materials at the Chemetco site. The work would decrease the volume of material that needs to be contained or remediated as a waste; therefore, reducing the potential site of any final remedy, the Justice notice states.According to its website, Paradigm was founded in 2009 and has developed new, cost-effective and environmentally safe methods of recycling old slag heaps which contain usable minerals.The consent decree will allow the firm to start retrieving the waste material and recycle it.The agreement stems from a demonstration project initiated years ago by the trustee in Bankruptcy Court. The agreement calls for Paradigm Minerals and Environmental Services, to perform the work.A U.S. EPA website says Paradigm is a potential purchaser of the site and was involved in negotiating the consent decree to implement future work and resolve past civil claims against Chemetco.Turner said the work will be done with oversight by his agency and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The U.S. EPA has certain authority over the slag heap because it is a huge environmental hazard.Turner said the state and federal agencies will monitor the work of Paradigm to ensure no further pollution occurs. Homini storageever, the company has the right to keep certain of its operations confidential, as long as it does not affect the environment.The Chemetco site was placed on the EPA's National Priorities List in March 2010.Chemetco was one of the largest copper smelters in the country from 1970 to 2001, when the Illinois EPA discovered a secret pipeline discharging dangerous chemicals into the nearby watershed known as Long Lake, which empties into the Mississippi River.Chemetco was required to clean up the area, but in the process, layers of zinc oxide were found to a depth of six feet in Long Lake.The estate of Chemtco fenced the 41 acres on which the plant operated. Some of the large, unsightly metal buildings left by the company have been demolished, and more than 3,000 tons of material associated with the former buildings has been removed from the site for recycling, reclamation or proper disposal.More than 26,000 gallons of oil and other liquids and 1,100 tons of waste have been removed.The foundry building had housed the smelting furnaces and was the largest building on the site.The old American Air Filter system area and the bag-house structures were also demolished."The bankruptcy trustee also executed asset sales that significantly reduced the presence of more than 11,000 tons and 4,000 gallons of potentially contaminated source material," the U.S. EPA states.On April 21, 1999, a federal grand jury indicted the company's former owner and CEO, Denis L. Feron, and five of his employees with violating the United States Clean Water Act.Despite regular monitoring of Chemetco by EPA officials, Feron ordered the construction of a secret pipe through which he authorized the pumping of millions of gallons of water containing heavy metals and other hazardous waste into Long Lake and nearby wetlands. Environmental inspectors discovered the pipe in 1996.The company was ordered to pay a $3.86 million fine and filed bankruptcy in November 2001.Feron fled in 2008 and was on the EPAs "most wanted list." In 2010, Feron struck a deal and paid $500,000 in restitution, and all charges were dropped.Some of the funds from recycling the materials at the site may go to creditors in the bankruptcy case. However, the company left many large creditorsCommerce Bank was listed as one of the large secured creditors, claiming $7.8 million in the bankruptcy case.sanfordschmidt@yahoo.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 The Telegraph (Alton, Ill.) 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