Koppers, Inc. - Site ID# 031300AAJ

Koppers, Inc. is a chemical manufacturing facility located at 3900 South Laramie Avenue in Cicero. The plant manufactures chemical oil products, creosotes, coal tar pitches, coal tar distillate, naphthalene and phthalic anhydride from coal and petroleum tars. Emission units at the facility include distillation equipment, storage tanks, load-in and load out equipment, associated piping, boilers, heaters, a wastewater treatment system and associated pollution control equipment.

The Illinois EPA issues permits to facilities which specify the environmental rules applicable to the emission units at a facility, emission limits applicable to units, testing, monitoring and recordkeeping requirements needed to ensure compliance, and reporting requirements. A facility may need to obtain construction and operating permits from the Illinois EPA prior to constructing and operating new or modified emission units at a facility.

In assessing the compliance status of facilities, the Illinois EPA conducts inspections and reviews compliance reports. Based on an inspection or compliance report review, the Illinois EPA may issue a Violation Notice to a facility, starting the pre-enforcement process. Koppers has been issued four Violation Notices since 2020 alleging violations of permit requirements and applicable rules. These Violation Notices have been referred for enforcement to the Illinois Attorney Generals’ Office.

Recently, the Illinois EPA received significant public interest in the Koppers facility in Cicero. This webpage is intended to offer a location for the public to easily access documents related to the Illinois EPA’s enforcement actions related to Koppers.