Fire At Lithium Storage Center Still Burns, EPA Recommends Action

MORRIS, IL — Fire officials said the air quality surrounding the burning storage facility was improving since a fire broke out Tuesday at a location where hundreds of tons of lithium batteries were stored, unbeknownst to public officials.

Since the fire began Tuesday, about 5,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes due to poor air quality and toxic smoke. Since lithium reacts violently with water, fire officials said the flames would take a while to put out without traditional firefighting methods. The fire was still burning down on Thursday despite unconventional efforts.

Morris Fire Chief Tracey Steffes said the participating fire departments poured 28 tons of wet cement onto the site in an attempt to smother the batteries, which residents say were making "popping" noises as it rained Tuesday night.

"That Portland cement has worked," Steffes said during a news conference Thursday. "We made a lot of progress on-site, so this is good news."

Still, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency recommended a variety of actions to the Illinois attorney general's office against Superior Battery, the company that was storing up to 200,000 pounds of lithium batteries without notifying emergency personnel or obtaining a license.

The EPA announced its findings in a statement released Thursday morning. Along with recommendations for environmental and public health charges, officials suggested Morris government:

• Obtain a consultant to determine the cause of the fire.
• Cease additional releases of materials from the site.
• Contain any runoff and preventing any off-site discharge of water.
• Provide a detailed inventory of site materials and a description of the processes performed at the site.
• Identify any waste streams generated at the site.
• Provide an estimate of air contaminants emitted as a result of the fire.
• Develop and implement plans to properly remove and dispose of waste from the site.
• Retain an environmental contractor to perform on- and off-site investigation and remediation.
• Establish procedures to prevent future reoccurrence.

"[The EPA] is just concerned about the water and the moisture and once that hits and goes in the ground, you know, that's a lot harder cleanup," said Morris Mayor Chris Brown. "Obviously, they're evaluating everything and what the best situation's going to be."

Steffes echoed the promise to residents that officials would be dealing with environmental and logistical fallout from this incident for "weeks, months after this is cleared up," at a press conference.

The Grundy County sheriff’s office shared drone footage of a section of the fire on social media early Thursday morning. Thermal imaging shows the hottest cores of the fires that still burn.