text: chemetco chemetco was formerly one of the largest united states refiners of copper from recycled or residual sources . its maximum output of 120 , 000 tons per year was approximately half of the entire u.s. copper output from so - called " secondary copper refining . " the company website described chemetco as one of the world 's largest copper refiners and reported an estimated revenue in 1999 of $ 500 m . it was listed in 2000 as the 23rd - largest privately held company in the united states . the company had a history of environmental problems over its entire career , along with problems managing its wastes and by - products . eventually , it was convicted of water pollution offences spanning a decade , which contravened us federal law . the company 's former site is now a superfund site on the national priorities list . history the company originated on june 9 , 1969 as an illinois corporation , metals corporation . on 23 march 1970 , it became a delaware corporation . in 1973 , the company changed its name to chemetco . by 1980 , it employed around 200 staff . by 2000 , chemetco was a member of the st louis minority business council . on november 13 , 2001 , the company filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy ( liquidation ) following conviction in a u.s. federal court and a fine of $ 3 . 86 million . chemetco and former ceo , denis l. feron were charged on four felony counts : conspiracy to violate the clean water act , violation of the clean water act , and two counts of making false statements . the plant , which closed on nov 1 , 2001 , was promptly sealed by the environmental protection agency ( epa ) and tagged for an assessment of public health hazards . location the chemetco site is in a flood plain near the mississippi river in madison county , illinois . the village of hartford , illinois ( population approximately 1 , 545 ) is approximately 1 mile ( 1 . 6 km ) north of the site . the nearest residential area is mitchell , a small community approximately ½ mile to the southeast . the lewis and clark state memorial park is within sight of chemetco 's former premises . the chemetco site is above an aquifer used for domestic , agricultural and industrial water consumers in several nearby communities , including edwardsville , hartford , roxana and wood river . parts of the wider area enclosing the chemetco site to the south are also known as chouteau island . main site operations were conducted within a 41 - acre ( 17 ha ) area , but chemetco also owned hundreds of acres of farm land . the atsdr has described how " … over the 30 years of plant operations , some of this was acquired to settle disputes with nearby farmers . " the mississippi river and two tributaries , the cahokia canal and long lake , are within 1 mile ( 1 . 6 km ) of the site . some local properties are served by wells . the wetlands area to the south of the site is popular with recreational fishermen . operation production under denis l. feron , chemetco had been a major producer of high - purity copper derived from secondary sources – recycled and residual materials . these were received at the plant in large quantities from wholesalers , and in smaller quantities from the corporation 's own network of warehouses that spanned the united states and canada . these enabled material to be graded and pre - sorted locally before refining at the plant . copper anodes ( 98 % cu purity ) emerged from the furnace as an intermediate product . for a number of years , these were electrolyzed by chemetco to produce a higher - purity copper cathode ( 99 . 98 % cu purity . ) however , the company later discontinued electrolysis of its own copper and sold copper anodes , each weighing 740 lb ( 340 kg ) to . refining process copper - bearing material was smelted to produce black copper , containing impurities such as lead , tin and zinc . black copper was refined using oxygen , producing 98 % copper , along with a zinc oxide residue and a slag containing lead , tin , nickel and a number of heavy metals . what chemetco described as " zinc oxide " was extracted from furnace flue gases using a scrubber system . the zinc oxide , along with the slag , became a waste product . the term " zinc oxide " was something of a misnomer , as lead , cadmium and other elements were also present . the agency for toxic substances and disease registry ( atsdr ) has noted how the generation and management of waste by - products was a long - term issue for chemetco , but also that chemetco seemed to be unwilling to recognize its wastes as a problem : " chemetco company literature and statements have often emphasized that the facility recycled most materials and that waste streams were not generated . but the end result of this recycling activity was piled feedstock residues , smelting and solid residues , and accumulated liquids . much of the material was stored directly on the ground , with little attempt to provide barriers or work practices to limit exposures . " prosecution and conviction on 18 september 1996 , an enforcement officer for the illinois environmental protection agency ( ) discovered a hidden pipe , discharging toxic waste from the refinery into long lake , a tributary of the mississippi river . investigations showed that the secret pipe had been active for ten years . a large area of wetland was contaminated with zinc oxide , lead , cadmium and other pollutants at several times the threshold for a public health hazard . visible evidence of contamination extended five feet down into the bed of long lake on property owned by chemetco . during grand jury testimony , one witness estimated that the plant discharged waste through the pipe for 330 days out of 365 . thirteen employees testified to using the pipe to discharge contaminated water . additionally , chemetco discharged contaminated storm water every time it rained on the plant . a pump was automatically triggered , discharging pollutant - laden storm water through the secret pipe . the prosecution calculated that this automatic process had occurred 948 times over a ten - year period . it was also calculated that even if only 0 . 01 inches ( 0 . 25 mm ) of rain fell , 1620 gallons of water would gather into a collection basin . from there , this large volume of contaminated water would be pumped into long lake . chemetco hampered the investigation of its illegal activity by making materially false statements . before sentencing , the court described chemetco 's conduct as " willful and egregious " . on 12 december 2008 , denis l. feron , the former president of chemetco , was placed on the federal epa 's ' most wanted ' list . he had fled the usa before trial . eventually , he paid a half - million dollars in restitution and all charges were dropped against him . air - borne dioxin production a scientific study by the centre for the biology of natural systems ( ) queens college of the city of new york , individually names chemetco as one of the top ten individual contributors of dioxins deposition at eight nunavut land receptors , from a total of 44 , 000 potential sources in the united states . as the report puts it : " … the effort detailed in this report is a response to the evidence that nunavut is especially vulnerable to the long - range air transport of dioxin . although there are no significant sources of dioxin in nunavut or within 500 kilometers of its boundaries , dioxin concentrations in inuit mothers ’ milk are twice the levels observed in southern quebec . this is due to the elevated dioxin content of the indigenous diet — traditional foods such as caribou , fish and marine mammals . " the source of the air - borne dioxin produced by chemetco 's refining process was coated wire , including pvc - covered wire , plastics and computer parts . these were routinely used as part of the mix of grades of scrap copper used to charge the furnaces . citing et al . 1997 , an epa report notes : " the presence of chlorinated plastics in copper scraps as a feed to smelters is believed to increase the cdd / cdf formation . " ( cdd 's are dioxins and are polychlorinated ) . the atsdr describes how " because chemetco had accepted material from a firm known to have dioxin contamination , investigated dioxin . on april 12 , 1987 , sampled an area of the chemetco plant which was used to manage zinc oxide collected from the venturi scrubber system . " epa testers found a dioxin concentration of 3 . 4 parts per billion . as a result , their assessment unit ‘ raised concerns about dioxins and furans in long lake sediments and the fish population . ’ however , the atsdr reports that these initial fears proved unfounded : " in the summer of 1999 , staff from the illinois department of natural resources and illinois epa collected fish samples from two sections of long lake . buffalo and carp were collected closest to … the northern part of the lake where the illegal pipe discharged . buffalo and crappie were collected from the southern section through pontoon beach . fillet portions were analyzed for pesticides , polychlorinated biphenyls ( pcbs ) , dioxins , and furans . no elevated levels of these chemicals were found . " this finding , in conjunction with those of commoner et al. shows that chemetco 's dioxins were almost entirely released as smokestack emissions ( also called flue gas stack ) emissions . other known environmental problems chemetco had a long history of violations . for example , in august and september 1992 , while taking air emission readings , chemetco was caught using semi - articulated trucks and water sprinklers as a buffer in front of the air emission monitors . this was in contravention of the clean air act , 42 . for a period , chemetco was the single biggest producer of atmospheric lead in the united states . in 1999 , the united states made a civil claim against chemetco under the clean air act , 42 . : " … chemetco will pay a civil penalty of $ 305 , 267 … " chemetco was also required to provide injunctive relief " … including installation of a continuous mass monitor system . chemetco produced high - purity cathodes using electrolysis . this electrolytic process used large amounts of sulfuric acid and according to the agency for toxic substances and disease registry ( atsdr ) would at times " … reportedly release a visible " acid mist " drifting onto nearby farm fields . " the atsdr also notes how the electrolytic refining process also required the management of large amounts of acidic waste capable of dissolving heavy metals : " … according to a 1983 illinois epa memo , the strong - acid electrolytic bath was believed to have been releasing material . through the years , during many of the sampling events liquids were measured with low ph values ( acidic ) or very high ph values ( caustic ) . the high ph levels may have resulted from the company using caustic materials to attempt to neutralize standing acidic surface water . acidic conditions typically increase the solubility of metals , and allow more mobility of the metal contaminants " . other hazardous liquids used at the site included halogenated solvents that may have been used for cleaning machine parts . postscript three and a half years after the discovery of the secret pipe , chemetco had failed to present an plan for the contaminated area . when chemetco shut down , the site was sealed and remediation began . however , the process was to prove protracted and several years later , it had not been possible to fully complete the process . when interviewed in early 2005 , the illinois epa inspector who discovered the secret pipe in 1996 was pessimistic about the chances of rapid remediation of the site . he suggested that the clear - up could take twenty years or so . in 2006 , it was reported that a canadian firm wanted to tackle the challenge of safely extracting metallic content from the wastes on site . under a proposed plan needing feasibility study approval , the contractor outlined a deal under which it could extract valuable metals such as copper , zinc , tin , lead and aluminium from the site . one report describes how the bidder for this work would " … design , provide and install equipment at the site for about $ 10 million and provide another $ 3 million for other cleanup while chemetco [ estate ] would operate the plant and pay royalties and lease payments … " the spoke approvingly of this proposed scheme under which non - recyclables would remain on site . if given a green light to go ahead , the work was estimated to take around ten years to complete . superfund site on march 4 , 2010 , the chemetco site was added to the superfund national priorities list because of the lead , cadmium and zinc contamination at the site and of nearby wetlands and long lake . the lack of available resources at the bankrupt chemetco or at the state of illinois necessitated proposal of this site to the national priorities list ( npl ) . this will enable the use of federal funds to build a enforcement case and ensure clean up the site . the u.s. environmental protection agency will oversee the clean up of the site and affected areas . after the site was listed on the npl , u.s. epa , with the support of illinois epa , began the search for potentially responsible parties ( prps ) who may be liable for the clean up . in november 2011 , u.s. epa issued a general notice of potential liability to a group of prps , and is currently working with a subgroup of them . u.s. epa plans to negotiate a settlement with prps for performance of the remedial investigation and feasibility study ( ri / fs ) for the site , which will define the nature and extent of contamination associated with the site and present options for the long - term remediation of affected areas . upon completion of the ri / fs report , u.s. epa will select a remedy for the site , with input from the community and stakeholders . copper industry a trade magazine covering metals industry news has noted that " the closing of the chemetco inc. secondary smelter in hartford , ill . , in 2001 marked the end of large - scale secondary copper smelting in the united states . " brian taylor , writing for recycling today in 2007 , goes on to observe how " .. in its 2006 report on national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants ( ) to the federal register , the u.s. epa notes , ' the secondary copper smelting plants that served as the basis for emissions estimates have all shut down , and no similar secondary copper smelters have been constructed . ' " taylor notes that chemetco was one of five smelters used by the epa to establish its standards . the others were : cerro copper products in , ill . ; franklin smelting in philadelphia ; gaston recycling industries in gaston , s.c. ; and the co. plant in carrollton , ca .