FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. — Three days after a fire engulfed the Critical Mineral Recovery plant in Fredericktown, a company spokesperson said Saturday that the fire is "controlled."
The parent company's lawyer Al Watkins said "currently, an expert fire suppression team is on-site and strategically suppressing remaining hotspots within the structure. It is expected that there will be occasional smoke in the air as this process progresses."
The fire broke out Wednesday at the battery plant which lead to at least 25 fire departments responding, with no injuries reported at the time.
In a press release, Watkins said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is still performing air monitoring and sampling,
Watkins added that "the fire water runoff has been contained and our contractors have set up infrastructure to contain water on-site to avoid run-off.
On Friday, residents found fish carcasses that washed up downstream from the plant along Village Creek, which was confirmed by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Watkins said the company is aware of the fish kill and is cooperating with state and national departments as they investigate. He said "water sampling is being conducted downstream and the sampling results will be published once received from the laboratories. Out of the abundance of caution we recommend that water is not used from Village Creek (off) the Little St. Francis River until further notice. There are no known impacts to county drinking water, but a plan to confirm no-known impacts is currently being developed."
During the fire response, several homes were evacuated by the local fire department in an abundance of caution. Watkins said "that involved approximately 25 homes north of the facility" and that "the evacuation order remains in place."
Community members in need of assistance or more information can reach the community hotline at (314)-576-9134.
