At the intersection of Route 3 and the tail end of Long Lake (one of the few remaining bodies of surface water in the bottom) is the shuttered and fenced site of the former Chemetco plant. A secondary copper refining site, at its peak output in the late 1990s it was producing approximately half of the entire US copper output from residual sources. However, following an anonymous tip, the US EPA found an illegal 10-inch discharge pipe that had been channeling waste materials—zinc oxide, lead, cadmium, and others—into adjacent Long Lake and Cahokia Canal for over a decade. Charged with felony counts in relation to violations of the Clean Water Act, Chemetco filed for bankruptcy in 2000. The site was immediately impounded and is now a Superfund site recently elevated to the National Priorities List. A 13-acre slag heap still marks the eastern portion of the site, with a crude, permanent sprinkler system at work to minimize the airborne migration of contaminants. The site remains under federal and state management, with on-site waste of "high-yield metal-bearing" materials being shipped to international destinations for subsequent processing. Yet after a decade of illegal discharge into adjacent waterways, and the company and its owner being found guilty of felony charges under the Clean Water Act, no remedy has been enacted.