Iowa worker sues C6-Zero factory, claims chemical explosion burned one-third of his body
Iowa #Iowa
The chemical explosion inside C6-Zero’s roofing shingle recycling factory burned about one-third of an employee’s body, according to a lawsuit filed last week.
Kelly Regenold, 58, of Dysart, stood on a ladder inside the Marengo factory on Dec. 8 when the explosion occurred, according to the lawsuit. The blast blew him off his perch and across the factory, according to the suit. While the fire ate through part of a building wall, Regenold “barely escaped with his life.”
Regenold, who filed the lawsuit in Iowa County District Court on March 21, is suing C6-Zero for negligence, accusing the company of failing to take proper steps to prevent flammable chemical vapors from wafting into the air, leading to the explosion.
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C6-Zero spokesperson Mark Corallo declined to comment on the lawsuit in an email Friday.
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Regenold is also suing Heartland Crush, a soybean crush company that leased the factory to C6-Zero. In his complaint, Regenold argued that the landlord was negligent because Heartland Crush’s leaders should have known that C6-Zero’s chemical process was dangerous.
Heartland Crush owner Jeff Buresh did not return messages left at his listed phone numbers on Friday, and lawyers who have represented the company in other lawsuits did not respond to the Des Moines Register’s emails.
Regenold was one of about 20 people inside the C6-Zero factory at the time of the explosion. He appears to be the first victim to sue the company in Iowa or federal court.
Regenold’s attorney, Mark Liabo, said Friday that his client spent about a month inside the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics burn unit, receiving multiple skin grafts.
“There are things that are going to be done to deal with scarring and that sort of thing,” Liabo said. “The hands have a lot of scarring and webbing. There’s going to be treatment for those and other injuries.”
Regenold’s wife, Tammy Courbat, 59, is also a plaintiff in the case. She has provided home health care as a result of the explosion.
C6-Zero advertised itself as a renewable energy company. Employees would load used roofing shingles onto conveyer belts that carried the material to vats filled with oil and a solvent.
The solvent, which is a blend of several chemicals, was supposed to bind to the asphalt in the shingle and form an oil that C6-Zero could sell.
The mix would also dissolve fiberglass and a gravel-like substance from the shingles, products that C6-Zero also planned to sell. Tim Dore, an attorney for the company, told the EPA in January that the company could turn 800 tons of shingles into about 1,800 gallons of oil every day.
Dore also told the EPA that C6-Zero began testing its manufacturing process in November, about a month before the explosion. Iowa County Emergency Management Coordinator Josh Humphrey and Marengo Police Chief Ben Gray have both said that C6-Zero did not provide a list of chemicals on site before the blast.
In February, after receiving a court order, C6-Zero turned a list of chemicals over to state officials. But the judge also granted C6-Zero’s request to allow the company to declare the list confidential.
Meanwhile, the Iowa State Fire Marshal’s office ruled the explosion an accident, saying that blast happened because of an “unknown mechanical failure” that ignited vapors inside the factory. The Fire Marshal’s Office has declined to turn over any documents from the investigation.
Liabo, Regenold’s attorney, said he has not seen C6-Zero’s list of chemicals or the fire marshal’s investigation.
“One of the reasons for the lawsuit is to be able to subpoena documents,” he said. “The only public information that we’ve been able to get is what’s been in the press. The agencies, they’re waiting for subpoenas to respond more fully.”
C6-Zero’s founder, Howard Brand, was also sued on Feb. 28 by Heartland Co-Op, which claimed to have provided the company with $130,000 worth of diesel fuel in September and October. According to the lawsuit, the company has not paid Heartland Co-Op.
At least one other lawsuit against C6-Zero appears to be in the works. On Feb. 3, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources received an open records request from a paralegal at Warner Law Offices, which has locations in West Virginia and the Denver metro.
According to the records request, the law firm represents Colorado investment banker Steve Bathgate, who suffered injuries in the explosion. Bathgate’s lawyers have not returned messages from the Register.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa worker sues C6-Zero factory, claims chemical explosion burned one-third of his body