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Nov. 4, 2024 |  By: Allison Kite - Missouri Independent

EPA expands air sampling around Missouri battery plant fire, tells residents to shelter

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By Allison Kite - Missouri Independent

Federal officials are increasing air monitoring around a southeast Missouri lithium-ion battery plant that caught fire, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday.

In a statement Friday, the EPA said it was conducting round-the-clock air monitoring for volatile organic compounds, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, lower explosive limit and particulate matter following the fire at Critical Mineral Recovery near Fredericktown.

Since the fire broke out Wednesday, the EPA said, only particulate matter levels have exceeded the agency’s action level. That occurred immediately north of the plant as firefighters were working to put out the blaze on Wednesday but has not recurred, the agency said. 

The EPA did not immediately provide sampling results referenced in its statement. 

Residents were encouraged to keep their windows closed and turn off air conditioning units.

“While the smoke from the remaining fire has decreased since the initial fire and firefighting efforts, EPA encourages individuals to avoid any plumes of smoke from this fire,” the EPA said. 

As of Wednesday, Critical Mineral Recovery’s website said the Fredericktown plant was one of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery processing facilities. It processed electric vehicle and consumer-grade batteries to retrieve valuable metals, including copper, nickel, cobalt, lithium, manganese and aluminum. Those recycled materials can be used to build new batteries.

At the time of the fire, the company’s site said it had “likely the most sophisticated automated and remote supervised and controlled fire suppression systems in the world.”

On Friday, the website was down.

Kevin Jones, a public information officer for the Fredericktown Fire Department, said Thursday that the whole building was affected by the fire and had serious structural damage. No employees of the plant were injured, Jones said, and neither were firefighters. 

In a statement Thursday evening, the department said it was working to extinguish the remaining fire and said smoke was now “intermittent with pockets of smoldering debris.” 

Jones could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.

It’s not yet clear what started the fire.

Fredericktown R-1 Schools kept students indoors Thursday, according to the district’s Facebook page, but canceled classes Friday. The district said in a post Friday morning that it did not close because of air quality concerns, but rather “out of an abundance of caution” because further fire suppression efforts were expected.