by Frank Bergman, Slay News:
A massive explosive has completely destroyed a lithium-ion battery plant in Missouri, according to reports.
Crews are cleaning up after the explosion triggered a large fire at the battery recycling plant in southeast Missouri.
The Fredericktown Fire Department gave an update at 9 p.m. on Sunday.
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Officials said fire personnel remain on the scene and part of the collaborative effort between Critical Mineral Recovery, and local, state, and federal officials in response to this fire.
The fire remains contained as expert fire suppression teams continue to work around the clock to work on the remaining hot spots in the building.
The incident prompted a local evacuation of residents of nearby Fredericktown.
Specialized contractors have set up infrastructure to contain water on site and avoid runoff.
The fishkill two miles downstream from the facility is being investigated by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Missouri Department of Conservation, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
Agencies are conducting water samples at numerous areas downstream from the Critical Mineral Recovery facility.
According to the fire department, Critical Mineral Recovery is working to answer questions for the affected community members.
On Friday, crews with the Environmental Protection Agency increased its monitoring efforts.
According to the EPA, the agency is conducting 24-hour monitoring to detect volatile organic compounds, hydrogen fluoride, and more.
They said crews did detect one chemical above the EPA’s action levels in the evacuation zone north of the fire on Wednesday but had not found any other chemicals since.
The EPA spokesman said while the smoke from the remaining fire decreased, they encouraged people to avoid any plumes of smoke from the fire.
Fredericktown residents will notice an increased EPA presence and air monitoring equipment around the scene of the fire.
As of Saturday, EPA has two teams performing mobile air monitoring around the scene, 24 hours a day.
EPA has also expanded its fixed-air monitoring stations.
The federal agency is starting to collect air samples for heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
Air monitoring and air sampling data are being relayed to the Fredericktown Fire Department Chief for decision-making purposes.
The fire department says they remain at the ready to alert the public if any detections that are hazardous are realized.
Fortunately, there were no casualties that were reported.
