Faced with complaints about black clouds of dust swirling into two Chicago neighborhoods, state environmental regulators are cracking down on one of the companies piling up huge mounds of refinery waste on the Southeast Side.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency accuses Beemsterboer Slag Corp. of violating air pollution limits during its handling of petroleum coke, overhauling its storage terminal along the Calumet River without the necessary permits and failing to file plans to reduce lung-damaging particulate matter from the waste piles.

Beemsterboer's site at 2900 E. 106th St. is one of three locations just south of the Chicago Skyway bridge where petroleum coke, also known as petcoke, is stored before the high-carbon, high-sulfur substance is shipped to buyers in other states and countries.

During the past three months, residents in the East Side and South Deering neighborhoods have frequently complained about thick black clouds of dust that force people to keep their children inside with the windows closed.

"We are delighted to see some action taking place," said Tom Shepherd of the Southeast Environmental Task Force.

The Illinois EPA filed its complaint last Thursday, four days after the Tribune and other local media drew attention to the petcoke piles. The agency did not reveal its action until U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly issued a news release Tuesday that mentioned the complaint.

The state EPA demanded that the company reduce air pollution at the site immediately, as well as apply for necessary permits and file pollution reduction plans within 45 days.

Attempts to reach Beemsterboer representatives for comment were not successful.

The amount of petcoke generated by U.S. refineries has steadily increased during the past decade as the petroleum industry processes more oil from the tar sands region of Alberta, which is thicker and dirtier than many other grades.

By the end of the year, BP's Whiting Refinery on Lake Michigan will become the world's second-largest source of petcoke and Chicago will become one of the biggest repositories for the product.

All of BP's petcoke is sent to two other sites along the Calumet River owned by KCBX Terminals, a company owned by industrialists Charles and David Koch. The U.S. EPA and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office are investigating KCBX for possible violations of air pollution laws.

In Detroit, Mayor Dave Bing recently ordered similar piles of petcoke removed from his city. Mayor Rahm Emanuel so far has not commented on the Chicago piles.

mhawthorne@tribune.com

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