State environmental regulators say a former plastics plant in central Illinois where a 2004 explosion killed five people is now all but demolished and cleaned up.
The explosion at the Formosa Plastics plant in Illiopolis happened on April 23,
2004. Federal safety officials ruled a worker mistakenly opened a valve on a
high-temperature reactor. The small town is 25 miles east of Springfield.
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Kim Biggs tells The State
Journal-Register in Springfield (http://bit.ly/1lrbXc1 ) that a couple of
buildings still need to be removed and the soil cleanup isn't quite finished.
Formosa spokesman Steve Rice says the company will consider the site's future
once the cleanup is complete.
The plant once employed almost 140 people.
Now Village President Sam Rogers says it is a reminder of tragedy.
Former Illiopolis Plant Nearly Demolished
csb.gov
