Watch CBS News

City: Calumet River Coal Storage Site To Shut Down

CHICAGO (AP) -- A company involved in legal skirmishes last year over piles of petroleum coke in Chicago has sold its facility, and a second company has been fined $50,000 for violating an order to stop handling coke and coal products, city officials said Thursday.

Indiana-based Beemsterboer Slag Corp. sold its site on the city's southeast side earlier this month, company President Alan Beemsterboer said. The company in December agreed to remove piles of petcoke, a powdery black byproduct of oil refining, after the state sued the company for air quality and permit violations.

Calumet Transload Facility -- a separate site owned by some members of the Beemsterboer family -- was fined last week for continuing to handle metallurgical coke and coke products in violation of a cease-and-desist order from the city.

That company, permitted only to handle road salt, had 12,000 tons of metallurgical coke and coal products at the site and planned to bring in another 8,000 tons when the order was issued on Aug. 7, the city said, adding that the company violated the order for 10 days and attempted to bring in more truckloads, only to have them blocked by city personnel. The company has since removed the material.

Beemsterboer said the company already had an agreement with the city to remove the material before the order was issued. He said Calumet Transload now handles only salt.

The company's troubles began last summer after residents complained about growing piles of petcoke, saying they feared potential health and environmental harm from dust that blew off the piles.

A new city ordinance bans new facilities and expansions.

(TM and © Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.