Setting the stage for cleanup at the contaminated site of their Marengo factory explosion, C6-Zero leaders have agreed to pay a remediation company and give state regulators requested documents tied to the Dec. 8 blast.

In an order issued Monday morning, Judge Lars Anderson granted a temporary injunction against C6-Zero, a renewable energy company that claimed to recycle asphalt shingles into oil. Plant officials agreed to the contents of the injunction, staving off a hearing that had been set for Monday after C6-Zero missed several deadlines.

Among the requirements in Anderson's order, company leaders agreed to:

• Pay $334,000 to EcoSource, a Windsor Heights company that will clean up the area around the blast.

• Put another $75,000 into a trust account that EcoSource can use.

• Let the Iowa Department of Natural Resources onto the property "upon prior and reasonable notice."

• Give the Iowa DNR a list of chemicals and mixtures that the company held on-site at the time of the explosion

Company spokesperson Mark Corallo declined to answer several questions from the Des Moines Register on Monday, but he said in an email that "C6-Zero appreciates the Iowa Attorney General's notice of intent to cancel today's hearing. Cleanup is ongoing and we continue to work collaboratively with the state."

The plant is not operating, DNR officials said.

“This is a matter of Iowans’ safety,” Attorney General Brenna Bird said in a statement. “I’m glad that C6-Zero has now agreed to comply with the law and clean up the property. Our office will continue to monitor the situation and work with the Iowa DNR to ensure this order is followed.”

Anderson's injunction follows a Dec. 16 emergency order from the Iowa DNR, which told the company to clean up the blast site by the end of January. The company missed that deadline.

The Iowa Attorney General's Office requested the court order Jan. 11, after prosecutors said C6-Zero leaders failed to submit a cleanup plan to the DNR on time.

On Jan. 24, with the case still pending, C6-Zero employees at the factory blocked a DNR regulator from inspecting the site. Corallo told the Register at the time that the state inspector "harassed, intimidated and bullied employees."

Related:C6-Zero, site of explosion, blocks another Iowa DNR site visit as compliance deadline looms

In his order, Anderson wrote that C6-Zero employees who violate his injunction could be in contempt of court. DNR spokesperson Tammie Krausman said in a statement that such an event "may trigger U.S. (Environmental Protection Agency) involvement, including site clean-up and cost recovery."

EPA spokesperson Kellen Ashford told the Register in an email that agency officials are coordinating with the DNR.

"Any additional involvement such as on-scene cleanup would include an official request for assistance from the state," he said.

C6-Zero and the Iowa Attorney General's Office had been scheduled to meet in Iowa County District Court, near the blast site, at 2:30 p.m. Monday. On Friday, Assistant Attorney General David Steward wrote in a motion that his office and company officials settled, negating the need for a hearing.

DNR: Water cleanup will take a month

After the explosion, water from the day-long firefight ran from the factory into a nearby basin. In her Dec. 16 order, DNR Director Kayla Lyon wrote that tests from the basin showed that chemicals contaminated the water.

Krausman said in Monday's statement that the department has signed a contract with Tetrasolv and Rain for Rent to treat the water, a process that DNR officials estimate will take four weeks. Krausman said the DNR will pay the contractors and later seek reimbursement from C6-Zero.

"This is an emergency situation to protect the health and welfare of the citizens of Iowa," she said.

Krausman also said the Iowa County Drainage District will create a diversion channel, routing rainwater and melted snow around the basin and into the Iowa River.

EcoSource hopes to begin cleanup this week

In his order, Anderson told C6-Zero to provide $334,000 to EcoSource by the end of Thursday. Darren Fife, environmental director for the cleanup company, said his team hopes to start working around the factory this week if the company gets paid on time.

C6-Zero had already contracted with EcoSource in December to create a cleanup plan, a process that required the company to exchange ideas with the DNR for about a month. Within the last two weeks, the two sides agreed about what to do, Fife said.

He said the company will first determine contamination levels at the site by sampling the dirt and the groundwater around the factory, digging wells and checking how far from the blast site workers can detect chemicals. Once they create a map of the contamination, they will start cleaning up the area, which will include excavating dirt.

According to Anderson's order, C6-Zero needs to give the DNR a refined plan for how to execute the cleanup by March 3.

"We just let the science and the data dictate how bad this is and how much cleanup is required," Fife said. "Once we get into the cleanup stages, there’s not a lot of guessing involved."

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This story has been updated to include comments from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson.

Tyler Jett covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at tjett@registermedia.com, 515-284-8215, or on Twitter at @LetsJett.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: C6-Zero settled with Iowa DNR before Monday court hearing