By Associated Press - Friday, April 12, 2019

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A federal appeals court has upheld a judge’s order requiring Titan Tire Corp. and Dico Inc. to pay almost $11 million to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for allegedly selling contaminated buildings in Des Moines for demolition to avoid cleaning up toxic chemicals.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals released its decision Thursday.

It concluded Judge Robert Pratt correctly found in 2017 that the companies sold buildings containing potential cancer-causing chemicals to avoid the high cost of hazard removal. The companies are subsidiaries of Quincy, Illinois-based tire and wheel maker Titan International Inc.

The buildings were located on company property in Des Moines that has for decades been part of an EPA Superfund site contaminated with pesticides and chemical degreasers.

The government sued in 2010.

The 200-acre site on the east side of the Raccoon River in Des Moines continues to be monitored by the EPA, state and local authorities.

A company spokesman did not immediately respond to a message.

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