July 12, 2025
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EPA begins cleanup at site of lithium battery fire

By Maribeth M. Wilson
Smoke billows from the fire at 919 E. Benton St. in Morris. The building contains more than 100,000 pounds of lithium batteries and the east side of Morris has been evacuated.

Smoke billows from the fire at 919 E. Benton St. in Morris. The building contains more than 100,000 pounds of lithium batteries and the east side of Morris has been evacuated.

MORRIS – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it has begun cleanup at the site of the Morris lithium battery fire.

The industrial fire that began on June 29, 2021, burned for about two weeks.

The warehouse, owned by Superior Battery, housed nearly 200,000 pounds of lithium batteries and caused the evacuation of 1,000 homes, according to news reports at the time.

In September 2021, it was announced that Superior Battery agreed to pay for the cleanup, but the EPA determined Superior Battery was not performing several work requirements of the legal agreement in a timely or sufficient manner.

The EPA announced it was taking over the cleanup in December, according to the terms of the agreement made with Superior Battery.

The EPA stabilized the building during winter months, fencing and locking the warehouse, taking inventory of remaining waste materials, and covering and securing material before cleanup began.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it has begun cleanup at the Morris lithium battery site.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it has begun cleanup at the Morris lithium battery site. (Maribeth Wilson)

The cleanup of hazardous and potentially hazardous substances will be addressed under the Superfund’s Emergency Removal Program, which has separate funds reserved to handle immediate threats to human health and the environments, according to a news release.

Morris Public Information Officer Stan Knudson said city officials are confident the EPA will maintain public safety. The EPA will have someone on scene solely responsible for monitoring a potential pre-fire situation.

The inside of the Benton St. warehouse shows materials covered and secured to keep them dry before cleanup.

The inside of the Benton St. warehouse shows materials covered and secured to keep them dry before cleanup. (Maribeth Wilson)

Len Zintak, an EPA on-scene coordinator, said work this week would focus on preparation.

“We need to get the site ready to start sorting the batteries,” Zintak said.

“We have the inventory from last November,” he said. “There are several different types of batteries including, two types of lithium batteries, nickel, lead acid, all ranging from little button cell (a watch battery) all the way to industrial size.”

All batteries and wastes are to be shipped off-site for disposal.

Mayor Chris Brown said he wants the public to understand the process for the cleanup will be time consuming and this is the first phase of a long process.

“What is currently appropriated for the US EPA for the cleanup is to get the batteries removed and sent to a different location,” Brown said. “Once the batteries are removed, they will have to reevaluate to see if there is contaminants in, on, or around the building to assess whether the building needs to come down.”

After the situation is assessed there will be another discussion federally before the next step can begin.

Morris

Maribeth M. Wilson

Maribeth M. Wilson has been a reporter with Shaw Media for two years, one of those as news editor at the Morris Herald-News. She became a part of the NewsTribune staff in 2023.