By Brian Brant
(ROCKTON, Ill.) Federal inspectors with the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Health and Safety Administration investigated a complaint on an Illinois chemical plant that has since exploded and caught fire on Monday, according to The Associated Press.
Rockton Fire Chief Kirk Wilson said the city hopes to avoid "an environmental nightmare" after an industrial fire at Chemtool Inc., a grease manufacturer, in Rockton, Illinois. The plant continued to burn following Monday's explosion.
The AP reports agency records did not report what was being inspected and there are no ongoing cases or violations in U.S. records on the plant.
OSHA officials said they have six months to complete their investigation involving the plant, and no further information will be made public until that work is finished.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office expanded the evacuation zone of homes and businesses near the plant to a 2-mile radius surrounding the plant “out of an abundance of caution" and encouraged people within that zone to wear masks to prevent them from inhaling soot.
Trisha Diduch, the planning and development administrator for Rockton, said Monday that she determined about 1,000 people were affected by the evacuation order.