Chicago: "EPA Targets Petcoke Dust on Southeast Side"

"For months, a company that stores giant mounds of petroleum coke on Chicago's Southeast Side has maintained it had nothing to do with gritty clouds of dust blowing into surrounding neighborhoods or black residue staining the sides of nearby houses.

But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that an ongoing investigation has traced both problems back to KCBX Terminals, which stores petroleum coke and coal at a pair of sites along the Calumet River.

The EPA accused KCBX of violating the federal Clean Air Act after pollution monitors posted around the two storage terminals recorded high levels of lung-damaging particulate matter on April 12 and May 8."

Michael Hawthorne reports for the Chicago Tribune June 4, 2014.