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Kopper's Inc
Cicero, Illinois
Cook County
On June 17, 2026 the Illinois Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Koppers. The lawsuit alleges multiple violations of state and federal air pollution control laws across several facility operations. Details of the lawsuit and links to view are listed below.
Background
Koppers Inc. operates a chemical manufacturing facility at 3900 South Laramie Ave. in Cicero. The plant produces chemical oil products, creosotes, coal tar pitches, coal tar distillate, naphthalene and phthalic anhydride from coal and petroleum tars. Its emission units include distillation equipment, storage tanks, load-in and load-out equipment, piping, boilers, heaters, a wastewater treatment system and pollution control equipment.
The Illinois EPA permits facilities and specifies the environmental rules that apply to each emission unit. These permits set emission limits and outline the testing, monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting needed to demonstrate compliance. Facilities must obtain construction and operating permits from the Illinois EPA before they build or modify emission units.
To assess compliance, the Illinois EPA conducts inspections and reviews compliance reports. When inspectors or analysts identify violations, the agency issues a Violation Notice, which starts the pre-enforcement process.
Violations & Enforcement
Since 2020, the Illinois EPA has issued four Violation Notices to Koppers for alleged violations of permit conditions and environmental regulations. For those violation notices, Koppers proposed Compliance Commitment Agreements to resolve the alleged violation, however, the Illinois EPA determined a referral to the Attorney General to resolve all outstanding violations was appropriate. Below are the Violation Notices, Proposed Compliance Agreements and Notice of Intent to Pursue Legal Action.
Since the original case was referred to the Illinois Attorney General, the Illinois EPA has continued to keep the Illinois Attorney General’s office updated on additional violations.
In May 2024, the Illinois EPA notified the Illinois Attorney General of additional violations from a series of Deviation Reports submitted by Koppers, in which they waived the requirements of Section 31 of the Act to meet and discuss the violations with ways to get in compliance. This action allowed the Illinois EPA to go straight to referring the case to the Attorney General.
In August 2024, the Illinois EPA notified the Illinois Attorney General of additional violations at Koppers. Koppers waived the requirements of Section 31.
The August 2024 violations followed 19 complaints about Koppers’ operations, which prompted an Agency inspection that found the facility out of compliance. Additional violations were also identified through submitted Deviation Reports.
Two months later in October 2024, additional violations were identified and sent to Illinois Attorney General. These additional violations were all noted in Deviation Reports from Koppers.
In April 2026, the Illinois EPA alerted the Attorney General to additional violations.
Those violations stem from an August 2025 inspection of the facility’s naphthalene storage tanks, distillation plant, transfer racks, and process heater. Inspectors identified multiple violations across permit conditions, state rules, and the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.
On June 17, 2026, the Illinois Attorney General filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Koppers, Inc. and Koppers Carbon Materials LLC. The lawsuit alleges multiple violations of state and federal air pollution control laws across several facility operations.
- Complaint filed June 17, 2026
- Complaint exhibits
- Press Release: Attorney General Raoul files lawsuit against chemical manufacturing facility over repeated violations of environmental laws and regulations at Cicero facility
Koppers Fire Investigation
On May 27, 2026, Illinois EPA was made aware of a fire at the Koppers Facility in Cicero. The fire was extinguished quickly by the local fire department and was limited to one tank on the property. The tank involved in the incident is currently out of service and will remain out of service. The cause of the fire is still unknown. The Illinois EPA is currently investigating, and the impacts of any emissions from the fire are still being evaluated.
Contact
For more information, please contact the Illinois EPA Office of Community Relations. Additional documents not available on this webpage may be obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request or through IEPA Document Explorer.