The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation said it is no longer actively involved in monitoring a Knoxville recycling center that caught fire in early May.
A massive fire destroyed most of the Fort Loudon Waste and Recycling center on May 1, and Knoxville fire crews have been stationed in the area to monitor it since.
After the fire, TDEC had been assigned to assess potential environmental impacts in the surrounding area and waters.
Several people in the neighborhood surrounding the recycling center raised concerns about it resuming operations when they noticed activity happening at the site. City officials said the center is allowed to work and clean up the site for now -- so long as they do not take in any new waste or recyclables.
Knoxville Fire Department Capt. D.J. Corcoran said they could confirm the recycling center was moving waste that was previously on-site and had not taken on any new waste that they knew of.
Corcoran said the facility has been shipping waste out of their facility to be disposed as of last week.
This comes after TDEC said their staff met with the facility owner, who said he plans to recycle all remaining metal debris as well as discard waste paper and burnt plastic in a landfill in the near future.
While TDEC is no longer actively involved, they said they will continue to monitor for any environmental issues and concerns from the site that are brought to their attention.