A plastics recycler in Bloomington now appears to be complying with Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District efforts to find out what was going on at the site on South Bunn Street, between Croxton and Bell.
Earlier this year, the water reclamation district [BNWRD] threatened disconnection and revocation of the wastewater discharge permit for Akshar, when the company didn't respond to questions about wastewater flowing into sewers. This also followed disputes with the City of Bloomington, an injunction to stop recycling, and hefty city fines.
BNWRD director Tim Ervin said Akshar has now complied with the majority of the orders and hopes to finish final items by the end of July.
"They did move several barrels of different types of chemicals out of the garage and they are looking at having a very few barrels, mainly rainwater, that they are working on at the moment," said Ervin, adding rainwater may or may not be important.
"If it's not documented, you don't know what that barrel contained before the rainwater so we're always apprehensive about taking it into our facility or permitting an industrial user to let it go into a sewer," said Ervin.
Ervin said Akshar also has now let public bodies know where it sent remnants after it stopped work in Bloomington.
"A lot of the disposal was recycled plastics and that was sent to another facility which the district confirmed through the shipping manifest provided by the industry," said Ervin.
BNWRD also been concerned about fluids exiting the plant even after operations were supposed to stop.
"The facility was constructed over 100 years ago and we worked with plumbers and Akshar to go down into the plumbing and we believe the majority of the water exiting the facility was actually groundwater," said Ervin.
Site history
The site between East Bell Street and Croxton Avenue once housed Meadows Manufacturing that produced Thor Washing Machines and built magazines for artillery shells during World War II, according to the McLean County Museum of History.
“The U.S. entered the Second World War in December 1941, and Meadows Manufacturing was charged with producing parts for a 20 mm anti-aircraft gun magazine," said museum librarian Bill Kemp "Peacetime production ended when the last washing machine rolled off the assembly line in mid-May 1942. In the years leading to the war, Meadows had churned out an average of 50,000 washers annually.”
During the Korean War, the plant manufactured artillery shells for the Ordnance Corps of the Department of the Army, said Kemp.
In late 1955, Thor sold the Bloomington plant to Eureka Williams that occupied a sprawling plant on the other side of Hannah and occupied the old Meadows buildings.
Ervin said the long industrial history created uncertainty about what's going on at a site.
"In a lot of the older buildings, when they age the plumbing underneath them just doesn't hold together. When we knew they were no longer manufacturing, we noticed there was still water coming out of the facility. That's why we looked into it, to determine if there was still some unknown activity going on that we weren't aware of," said Ervin.
Ervin said Akshar has put the facility up for sale and BNWRD monitors what goes in there, adding the district meets with any new commercial or industrial user before issuing a disposal permit.
"We do have different pre-treatment parameters that we require all industries and commercial facilities to comply with. As that facility is developed, or as someone new comes in, we'll just work with the new owner," said Ervin.
Settling up
Ervin said Akshar also has paid a little over $15,000 in fines to the district, about half the original tab. The reclamation district waived the bulk of the late charges once the company cooperated and started to give answers, he said.
Akshar also has moved to settle disputes with the City of Bloomington.
With all outstanding code compliance issues resolved, the city recently entered into an agreement with Bell International [Akshar’s parent company] and Akshar Plastic to settle the judgment collection and injunction cases. The settlement provides for the companies to pay the city a total of $67,500 in fines in three monthly installments of $22,500, said a city spokesperson.
The first payment has been received, and the final payment is due Aug. 15, said the city.
“As part of the settlement, the companies agreed to a permanent injunction prohibiting them from operating a recycling facility, junkyard, laboratory, or metalworking facility at the premises in violation of the City’s zoning code. If payments are made as scheduled, the City has agreed to consider the judgment satisfied,” said the city.
