CNN
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As a fire at an Indiana plastics recycling plant is expected to keep pumping potentially hazardous smoke, soot and ash into the surrounding community for several more days, local officials say they have been concerned about a possible blaze at the facility for years.
The US Environmental Protection Agency is conducting around-the-clock air quality monitoring due to concerns that the fire, burning since Tuesday afternoon, may be releasing debris contaminated with asbestos and toxic chemicals from the incinerated plastics.
Though the state fire marshal has said the smoke plumes are “definitely toxic,” the EPA had not detected any toxic compounds as of Wednesday morning.
Updated test results from fire debris are expected Thursday morning, the agency said.
An evacuation order remains in effect for some 2,000 residents who live within a half-mile radius of the plant. Others who live downwind of the evacuation zone are urged to shelter in place and avoid smoke exposure.
Richmond public schools will also be closed Thursday.
While the cause of the inferno is still unknown, local leaders had expressed concerns since at least 2019 that the recycling plant was riddled with fire hazards and building code violations, records show.
“We knew it wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when this was going to happen,” Richmond Fire Department Chief Tim Brown said Wednesday.
In 2019, the city’s Unsafe Building Commission found that the “cumulative effect of the code violations present” rendered “the premises unsafe, substandard, or a danger to the health and safety on the public,” according to meeting minutes obtained by CNN.
During a commission hearing, the plant’s owner, Seth Smith, admitted one of the buildings on the property had no fire extinguishing system, the records show. CNN has reached out to Smith; the attorney that previously represented him in a related lawsuit declined to comment.
It will likely be several days before the fire stops burning and investigators can safely enter the plant to begin assessing its cause, according to the state Fire Marshal’s Office.
Richmond officials “were aware that what was operating here was a fire hazard,” Mayor Dave Snow said Wednesday, accusing the plant’s owner of ignoring a city order to clean up the property.
The fire began in a semitrailer loaded with plastics, then spread to surrounding piles of recyclables before eventually reaching the building, which was “completely full from floor to ceiling and from wall to wall,” Brown, fire chief, said. When firefighters arrived, he said, they had difficulty reaching the buildings because access roads were blocked by piles of plastic.
“Everything that’s ensued here – the fire, the damages, the risk that our first responders have taken and the risk these citizens are under – are the responsibility of that negligent business owner,” Snow said.
After Smith was ordered by the city building commission to repair or demolish and vacate his properties in 2019, the plant owner and his company petitioned a court to review the order.
An Indiana circuit court judge ruled in favor of the city in March 2020. The court found in part Smith’s properties “constitute a fire hazard; are a hazard to public health; constitute a nuisance; and are dangerous to people or property because of violations of statute and City Ordinance concerning building condition and maintenance.”
The city last year seized two of the three land parcels the recycling plant sits on after Smith failed to pay property taxes.
It’s unclear what steps the city took to remedy the site since the seizure and whether it took any steps before 2022 to enforce its orders requiring Smith to repair or demolish and vacate the properties.
Smith was contacted by an investigator Tuesday night, the mayor said.
With toxins yet to be detected, the primary health concern to residents is particulate matter – fine particles found in smoke – that could cause respiratory problems if inhaled, Wayne County Health Department Executive Director Christine Stinson said.
N95 masks – the kind widely used during the Covid-19 pandemic – could protect against the particles, but people should leave an area if they see or smell smoke or experience symptoms, she said.
Due to the age of the building, asbestos is also a potential concern, said the EPA, which advised residents to avoid touching debris until more tests are conducted.
Air quality tests conducted by the EPA found no evidence of toxic chemicals such as styrene or benzene as of mid-Wednesday morning, though tests are continuing as the smoke settles. Exposure to such chemicals could include an increased risk of cancer if someone is exposed to a high concentration of toxins for a prolonged period of time.
“We know that it is very common that a large range of chemicals are formed whenever plastic materials are burned, including styrene, benzene, and a wide number of polyaromatic hydrocarbons – all of these are strong carcinogens, and it’s important for people to avoid exposures,” said Richard Peltier, associate professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
Short-term symptoms could include dizziness, nausea, coughing, headache and fatigue, Peltier said. “Asthma is regularly triggered by these types of complicated exposures so if you have asthma, it’s really important to be extra careful,” he said.
Longer-term issues could include an increased risk of cancer if someone is exposed to a high concentration of toxins for a prolonged period of time, he said.
