SEWARD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency says limited manufacturing may resume at a fire-damaged northern Illinois chemical plant.
Agency officials and attorney general's office gave the approval Wednesday for the Nova-Kem plant in the town of Seward, about 18 miles west of Rockford.
The Rockford Register Star reports (http://tinyurl.com/ocgpfue ) that approval is contingent on several conditions, including installing a fire alarm with remote notification and allowing the EPA to inspect and monitor the process.
A June 2 explosion and fire caused a 24-hour evacuation of the town.
Nova-Kem CEO and President Reno Novak apologized to residents during a community meeting Tuesday. He says authorities are still investigating, but that a control system failure likely released the chemical that sparked the explosion and fire.
Novak says on- and off-site cleanup is ongoing.
