http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/apex_hazardous_materials_fire Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:30:43 -0800 pixel-app en http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12333 Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0800 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12333
Daniel Kuster, 35, and two other workers were killed Wednesday when an explosion and fire leveled the industrial warehouse and rocked the near-downtown area. Forty-six other workers were injured, including one with life-threatening injuries, Mayor Tom Barrett said.

"You shouldn't have to bury your kids," Kuster's father, Melvin, said, crying, Wednesday night.

Police Chief Nan Hegerty said investigators were still trying to determine the exact cause of the blast, which shook the surrounding area, overturned workers' cars in a parking lot and broke windows of nearby businesses and apartment buildings.

"There was a propane leak. There were employees of Falk who were investigating the leak," she said. "They began to evacuate the building, and that's when the explosion occurred. Had they not been evacuating the employees that were in that building, the death toll would have been much higher."

Hegerty said the explosion seemed to be an accident but police opened a criminal investigation, which was normal procedure. Federal agents also were investigating.

Barrett said the company has a clean safety record with the city. The last inspection was in September, "and any violations were corrected on the spot," he said.

Bob Hitt, CEO of Falk's parent company Rexnord Corp., said employees would be paid while the firm assesses the situation at the 61-acre complex.

The company held a private meeting with employees Wednesday evening to offer grief counseling and information.

Larry Thibault, 59, a warranty administrator at Falk, attended the meeting and said the company was optimistic about rebuilding, although officials didn't give a timeline for when people would return to work.

"There was an absolute commitment to bring the company back to full production as soon as they can," he said.

Police interviewed more than 500 people and firefighters searched through wreckage for hours before accounting for the more than 700 workers from the plant.

The factory, which is not far from the Milwaukee Brewers' home of Miller Park, is in the Menomonee Valley, home to several trucking companies and industrial supply firms.

Dozens of workers with injuries including broken bones, head wounds and cuts were treated at hospitals throughout Milwaukee.

The three men who died had years of experience at the plant.

Daniel Kuster was an only child, never married and had no children, said his aunt, Vicki Izydor, 36. She said he was a fork lift driver and had been with Falk for 11 years.

"I know he was very close to his parents," she said. "I couldn't even imagine to be honest what it feels like to lose your only child, and in such a tragic way."

Also among the dead were 38-year-old Curtis J. Lane, of Oconomowoc, and Thomas M. Letendre, 49, of Milwaukee.

Curtis Lane's father-in-law, William Borgiasz, said Lane was the father of two young children and his wife, Tina, operates a day care center.

"It is a big tragedy," Borgiasz said. "It is really hard to deal with. All we are going to tell them is, 'Daddy ain't coming home."]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12192 Thu, 19 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12192
State environmental officials indefinitely suspended cleanup at the plant's ruins in Apex, a Raleigh suburb.

Firefighters managed to extinguish the smoldering chemical mix two hours after it began spouting smoke from a 55-gallon barrel. The drum contained a sodium metal solution that can ignite when exposed to water or air, said Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly. Rain had drenched the area Tuesday.

The irritating fumes produced by the reaction reportedly caused burning eyes, Weatherly said.

"It's very frustrating to see something like this happen again," he said. "There's now additional apprehension among our folks, which is unfortunate."

Emergency responders evacuated a few dozen people from four businesses close to the plant.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources halted work at the site and asked EQ Industrial Services Co., which owned the plant, to provide a written report detailing the cause of Wednesday's reaction and steps being taken to ensure public safety.

The company's cleanup plan was approved Tuesday.

"We're trying to make sure that they are following the steps to the letter of their plan," said Diana Kees, a department spokeswoman.

The EQ chemical plant erupted into flames Oct. 5, lighting up the sky with explosions and blanketing parts of the town in a yellow-green haze. Town officials had urged as many as 17,000 people to evacuate, citing potentially toxic fumes that had made a few dozen people seek medical attention.

Residents were allowed to return home after firefighters extinguished the blaze two days later.

More than 200 residents packed Apex Town Hall on Tuesday looking for answers about the blaze.

Though EQ officials have said tests found no harmful levels of toxins in the atmosphere, residents wanted to know more about their vegetable gardens, their children's health and the quality of their air. Some also asked whether the company will rebuild at the site a prospect town officials said they'll do everything in their power to prevent.

"We cannot tolerate the continued operation of a hazardous-waste storage facility in Apex," Weatherly said. "Let me just say our concern and the point we will not forget is that EQ has exposed our citizens to an unprecedented level of danger."

The Michigan-based company has said a decision about rebuilding in Apex won't be made until cleanup is complete.

State regulators say more tests will be conducted on the ground and water and they expect to release a report on air quality later this week.

Gov. Mike Easley has also announced that a task force will examine regulations for hazardous waste storage centers and recommend changes to tighten those rules.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12179 Tue, 17 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12179
County officials said that the fire at the 7,300-square-foot Environmental Quality Co. warehouse could burn into Sunday because twisted metal blocked access to the flames.

Since fire and explosions late Thursday set loose a choking chemical cloud over downtown Apex, fire crews let the building burn out of concern that pouring water or foam would spread contamination or cause an explosive reaction. Fire crews began to use a dry flame retardant Friday evening to put out the remnants of the fire that had emitted 200-foot plumes of smoke and flame.

The building’s roof had collapsed by Friday afternoon, leaving three smaller fires beneath the rubble. Firefighters then used several techniques to extinguish the flames and contain contamination. They hauled dirt in dump trucks to build dams and berms to trap contaminated runoff. They used construction equipment to peel back the roof and spray foam onto the flames.

“That’s been something that slowed us down a bit being able to access those fires and extinguish them,” Raleigh Fire Capt. Keith Wilder said.

This town of about 28,000 has been left with a mess to clean up, uncertainty about environmental damage and lingering images of the fireballs that lit the Thursday night sky and emptied downtown streets.

With winds beginning to pick up Friday night, town officials who had announced a voluntary evacuation for about the half the town’s population decided to keep an emergency shelter open at Green Hope High School and maintain police barricades around several subdivisions through today.

County and town officials would not say when people would be allowed to return but said it wouldn’t be before the fire was out.

The main concern was a chemical cloud released by the fire at the plant just east of downtown. With the fire still burning, officials were concerned that even a small flare-up could cause new air problems.

The building was used as a southeastern collection point for industrial and residential waste sometimes called “hazmat” for hazardous materials which was then transferred to other plants for recycling or disposal.

Apex Fire Chief Mark Haraway said Environmental Quality officials told him the site contained pesticides, oxides, bulk sulfur, contaminated lead and other contaminated metals at the time of the fire Thursday night. “It’s literally the worst-case hazmat scenario you can have,” he said.

Firefighters also identified toxic chlorine gas from a distinctive yellow-green haze they spotted around streetlights when they first arrived late Thursday, Town Manager Bruce Radford said.

Exposure to the gas caused 13 police officers and a firefighter to suffer from nausea and minor bleeding. One officer also had a minor facial burn, and an Apex police dog named Hondrick became sick, town officials said.

Scott Maris, the company’s vice president for regulatory affairs, said EQ wanted to help authorities put out the fire and address concerns about air quality as soon as possible.

“Our biggest goal is to get everyone home,” he said.

Representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a private contractor hired by the company were “optimistic” after sampling air quality around the property and on nearby streets in town Friday, Mayor Keith Weatherly said.

In a prepared statement, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources said air-quality monitors did not detect “anything alarming” Friday. A light drizzle Friday also helped wash toxic particles out of the air.

Though several hundred residents stayed at three emergency shelters Thursday, by Friday evening only a handful remained at the sole remaining shelter at Green Hope High School.

“We can’t leave; we have nowhere to go,” Brenda Nelson, 53, said at the shelter.

She was frustrated that the town had not given out more information about when she would be able to return to her home on Center Street, a half-mile from the plant. “It suddenly died down, and here we are sitting in the shelter,” she said.

EQ representatives late Friday night offered to put approximately 70 evacuees up in local hotels. All but five went.

Hundreds of other town residents stayed with friends and relatives or booked rooms in local hotels. Countless others chose to stay put.

Authorities said they had no way of knowing exactly how many evacuated. Rick Fore stopped at the Green Hope High School shelter Friday night to offer three bedrooms in his Cary home.

“If I was out of a home, I would like someone to help me,” he said. Shelter organizers took his name and number and told him they’d call if there was a need.

Police barricades did not deter some residents from going home Friday.

Joey Heilmann, 20, and Nick Blalock, 18, had the day off from a Red Robin restaurant because of the evacuation. After staying at a friend’s house Thursday night, they drove through back parking lots to go home to pick up cash and toothbrushes.

“It was a ghost town,” Heilmann said. “Everything was abandoned.”]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12187 Mon, 16 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12187
The group of firms, which include: Parker & Waichman, LLP, Greg Jones & Associates, PA, Neblett, Beard Arsenault, Becnel Law Firm, LLC & the Law Offices of Ronnie G. Penton, continue to evaluate individual cases involving personal injury, property damage, lost wages and business interruption. To request a free individual case evaluation please visit www.apexchemicalfire.com and www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/apex_hazardous_materials_fire, or call 1-800-LAW-INF0 (1-800-529-4636).

EQ Industrial Services and EQ Holding Company were previously warned about unsafe conditions at the facility. EQ was cited and fined in March 2006 for violating North Carolina regulatory waste regulations due to its failure to properly contain hazardous waste materials on its property. Plant explosions are nothing new to EQ; in August 2005, another plant run by Environmental Quality Co., just outside of Detroit in Romulus, Michigan, burst into flames, forcing 2000 residents to evacuate.

The lawsuit alleges that EQ’s negligent actions caused a massive chemical explosion, resulting in chlorine and other hazardous materials to enter the air and surrounding community. Chlorine gas is highly toxic and was used as a chemical weapon during World War I. Residents and businesses in Apex, North Carolina, and surrounding areas, suffered injuries and damages, and will continue to suffer substantial losses into the future. The suit seeks remedies for claims involving personal injury, property damage and business interruption.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12173 Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12173
"This is truly awful," town manager Bruce Radford said. "It is the worst potential hazardous materials fire that you can expect."

No serious injuries were immediately reported, although a spokeswoman at Raleigh's Rex Healthcare hospital said six people were in good condition as they received oxygen because of respiratory problems. A spokeswoman at WakeMed hospital in Raleigh said two people came there as a precaution.

Radford said firefighters had to wait for daybreak to properly examine the blaze at Environmental Quality Co., a hazardous waste business that housed a variety of volatile chemicals, including chlorine. Even then, he said, the best option might be to simply wait for the fire to burn itself out.

"We know this will go on for several more hours, if not for the entire day," he said around 2:30 a.m., adding he didn't yet know what might have started the fire.

A yellow haze lingered over downtown overnight and there was a faint smell of chlorine in the air. Police lined up along the main street that runs through the town's business district, blocking both ends of the road. Radford said Apex's downtown and schools would be closed on Friday.

"Tomorrow morning at daybreak, people are going to want to come in and sight-see at this fire scene," Radford said. "They will either get terribly sick or they will be arrested. No questions asked."

Radford said the fire started around 10 p.m. Thursday. He said when he arrived at the scene, a chlorine cloud rose 50 feet in the air and flames shot three times as high. He estimated that 20 to 30 explosions had occurred at the plant.

"They don't know whether they even want to put water on the fire at this point," said Sharon Brown, a spokesman at the Wake County Emergency Management Center. "At this point they're still monitoring the chemicals, and they don't know what the best way to mitigate the fire is."

Robert Doyle, an Environmental Quality spokesman at the company's headquarters outside Detroit, said the company was mobilizing its own emergency response team to help with the clean up. He said about 25 employees work at the Apex plant and all had left the building by 7 p.m.

Doyle said the facility handles a wide array of industrial waste ranging from paints to solvents.

"Because of the many different types of waste that we bring in, it's very difficult to determine the cause of the fire," he said.

The evacuation generally covered the west side of Apex, located about 10 miles southwest of Raleigh. Authorities opened a shelter at an elementary school on the town's east side, and Radford said it would be also be safe to take shelter at hotels in nearby Cary.

At the shelter, the parking lot was full overnight as a few hundred residents and their pets milled around, waiting calmly for news about the fire.

Cory Cataldo was at the shelter with his wife, Sherry, and their two young sons. He said they were awakened around 1 a.m. by a knock at the door, and an unidentified man told them to evacuate because of a chemical fire.

"That's about all I needed to know," said Cataldo, who said his wife and sons have asthma. "My first concern was just to get everybody out."

Cataldo said he heard what he thought were fireworks from the end of Thursday's nights college football game between Florida State and N.C. State in Raleigh. He now thinks what he heard were explosions at Environmental Quality.

Radford said some residents who live near the fire, in an industrial area near one of the town's oldest residential neighborhoods, did not heed the evacuation order. He appeared on television around midnight to beg them to get away from what he called a "black, smoky cloud" that was covering downtown.

"They are taking their own lives at risk," Radford said. "They are putting themselves in very grave danger by being around this smoke."

The fire forced officials to evacuate Apex's 911 center and fire department. Radford said calls to 911 were still being received by Wake County, and the "reverse 911" system was used to call homes in Apex and relay emergency information.

Officials had hoped to get an aerial assessment of the flames overnight, but Civil Air Patrol Lt. Col. David Crawford said the survey flight was aborted because of weather. "This is one of the largest incidents and responses that I've seen," he said.

The six people receiving oxygen were transferred to Rex Healthcare from an Apex rehabilitation center, said hospital spokeswoman Lisa Schiller. About 80 people were transferred from a nursing home to WakeMed Cary hospital as a precaution, said WakeMed spokeswoman Deb Laughery.

Radford said Apex and Wake County had declared a state of emergency, starting the process of asking for federal assistance.

"It's quite scary," said Apex resident Andrew Smith, who lives about a mile west of the fire, just outside the evacuation zone. "The sky is definitely lit up. We can see a big column of smoke and occasionally flashes of light from explosions."]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12174 Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12174
According to Wake County officials, evacuation is still recommended within the area bounded by US 1, NC 55 and US 64 highways in Apex and unincorporated areas.

If residents do not feel threatened and prefer to shelter in place they may; however, residents must stay indoors, keep their windows closed, and turn off air conditioning or other air exchange systems.

Travel on NC 55 in this area is now closed, but US 1 and US 64 are still open. Citizens who leave the evacuation area will not be allowed back in.

Green Hope High School at 2500 Carpenter Upchurch Road will serve as the third shelter operated by Wake County Government and the American Red Cross. The shelter was scheduled to open at 8:00am.

Wake officials say that the shelters at Olive Chapel Elementary and Turner Creek Elementary are full and no longer accepting guests.

Citizens are asked to transport themselves to the shelters, but those requiring assistance may call the Wake County Emergency Operations Center at 856-7044.  Officials ask that no one call 911 unless absolutely necessary since the call center has been overwhelmed with phone calls.

The list of schools closed for students and staff today now includes:
Apex Elementary, Apex Middle, Apex High, Baucom Elementary, Lufkin Road Middle, Olive Chapel Elementary and Turner Creek Elementary schools.

All bus routes originating in Apex are cancelled for Friday as well. Green Hope High will close for students at 9:30am.

There will be no bus service to Salem Elementary and Salem Middle schools today due to traffic conditions in Apex.

Salem Elementary and Salem Middle will be open for students and staff.

The Wake County Emergency Operations Center says it continues to monitor the hazardous materials incident at 1005 Investment Drive in Apex.

According to Wake County officials, fire, rescue, HAZMAT and Town of Apex officials said they planned to more fully evaluate the situation at sunrise.

About The Fire

On Thursday night, according to a televised press conference on Time Warner Cable's 24 hour newschannel News14, Apex Town Manager Bruce Radford said that a massive toxic chemical fire that started on Thursday night has forced thousands of people to evacuate.

A potentially deadly chlorine gas cloud was seen at the fire site, said the manager and other "volatile chemicals" are involved in the fire.

Chlorine gas in concentrated form can be deadly and was even used as a weapon in World War I.

"This is an uncontrolled uncontained fire from a company that collects contaminated materials," said Radford.  Radford said that the fire started at a company called "EQ" that collects toxic and hazardous materials and is located in an industrial complex in Apex .

He added that a series of 20 or 30 explosions have occurred and firefighters could not even get within 100 yards of the fire because of the intense heat and hazardous materials.

"This is the worse possible hazardous materials fire [that could occur] anytime anywhere," said Radford in the press conference.

He said that people were being evacuated "between highway 55 south and 55 north on the east side of Apex" and that Apex even used its reverse 911 feature to call every single home in the town of Apex.

Estimates on the number of people that have been evacuated have varied.  One report stated as few as 5,000 people were evacuated while it has been reported by the Associated Press that as many as 16,000 residents have been asked to leave the area.

Two schools were planned on being used as evacuation shelters.  Apex had several buses on hand to help with the evacuations.

Radford said that every single hazardous materials fire crew that could be called in had been requested to respond.  He said that crews from Raleigh and other fire departments had responded.

Due to the fire, Radford said that the emergency command post had to be moved three times and even the 911 call center had to be evacuated.

Crews had not yet begun to fight the fire as of this report filing, but Radford said they had sent a helicopter above the fire to determine the extent of the blaze.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12176 Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12176
Officials say they planned to send a hazardous materials crew in a mid-morning to evaluate the fire. In the meantime, they've been letting it burn, out of concern that pouring water or foam on it would make things worse, said town manager Bruce Radford. The rain that started falling around 7 a.m. "doesn't make anything better," Radford said.

State officials have set up air monitors around the fire, but have so far not detecting "anything alarming," according to a statement from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The rain should help reduce the amount of toxic chemicals in the air, the statement said.

The fire that followed a series of late-night explosions at Environmental Quality Co. just east of downtown has closed all Apex schools and school bus routes that start inside the Western Wake town. In addition, the Wake County Public School System said bus transportation elsewhere in Western and Southwestern Wake County would likely be delayed this morning. Green Hope High School in Cary, which is being used a shelter for evacuated residents, will also be closed.

Officials urged people to evacuate an area bounded by U.S. 1, N.C. 55 and U.S. 64 highways in Apex and unincorporated areas. Police are blocking roads into the center of town, and Radford urged everyone to stay away.

"If they choose to come, go ahead and write their names on their foreheads and the names of their next of kin," he said.

The fire also shut down a large stretch of N.C. 55, a major road into jobs in and around Research Triangle Park in time for this morning's commute. Northbound drivers on N.C. 55 are being detoured around Apex via northbound U.S. 1, then onto westbound U.S. 64 and back to N.C. 55.

Heavy congestion was reported on these roads this morning, and the Highway Patrol suggested that commuters find other routes.

The fire raged out of control all night, and firefighters could not get closer than 100 yards to it. They urged shut-in residents to close their windows and run from the toxic smoke.

By 5 a.m. today, the fire had spread to neighboring White Oil and ignited four petroleum tanks.

Russell McClelland's daughter in Apex went to Western Wake after she started choking.

"She could barely talk," McClelland said.

Chlorine is a yellow-green gas used in the manufacture of other chemicals. It can damage eyes, skin and lung tissues and can be fatal after long exposure. It was used as a choking weapon on the western front during World War I.

The Wake County Emergency Operations Center has been activated, the county announced at 3:35 a.m. today. Wake and Apex fire, rescue and hazardous personnel are coordinating emergency response efforts.

Residents who did not evacuate were advised to stay indoors, keep their windows closed, and turn off air conditioning or other air exchange systems.

Shelters were opened at Olive Chapel Elementary and Turner Creek Elementary, where about 380 people had sought refuge as of 7 a.m. But as the day began, most people left and those who remained were being transferred to Green Hope High School. Officials think many hundreds or thousands of evacuees have found shelter on their own at hotels or with family and friend.

"A lot of people have reconnected with family members, and a lot have found lodging on their own," said Jane Martin, Wake County spokeswoman.

Those requiring assistance may call the Wake County Emergency Operations Center at 856-7044.

The blaze at Environmental Quality Co. on Investment Boulevard started shortly before 10 p.m. Past midnight, people were still walking under a black plume that had covered the downtown Apex area too close to send in police to warn them, Radford said.

"If you see the smoke, run away from it," Radford said.

Wake County has declared a state of emergency.

Radford said he had "absolutely no idea" what triggered the fires.

Police and other emergency officials went door to door warning residents. Officials also activated the "reverse 911" system, calling everyone near the fire.

Early this morning, the Waterford Green subdivision about 2 miles east of downtown joined several other Apex neighborhoods that were evacuated, as was a Holiday Inn Express off N.C. 55. More than 70 senior citizens from Rex Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center on South Hughes Street also were evacuated.

The explosion was loud and bright enough to see 5 miles away.

"It was like the world's largest bowl of Rice Krispies pop, pop, pop! But it was real loud," said John Echols, 28, who lives two blocks from the EQ plant. He said at first fireballs "would shoot up from time to time. It was nasty."

He took a blanket, a pillow and a "Lord of the Rings" book to the Olive Chapel Elementary shelter.

Still, some would not flee.

Pat Smith, who lives about 1 mile from the plant, wanted to be evacuated, but her 87-year-old father, Laddie, lives next door and didn't want to leave.

"He's 87 and kind of set in his ways," Smith said.

By 1:30 a.m., he had no choice. He and his daughter were ordered to evacuate.

Anthony Ladesso, 39, was home Thursday night when his wife reported hearing something like thunder. He stepped outside to smoke a cigarette, doubting her, and smelled "a very sweet odor," he said.

Soon, he saw emergency officials running past in gas masks, and a neighbor sped by telling him to get his wife and three kids away.

Nearby, Jennifer Zinc, 29, heard a noise like fireworks. "We have our cats, and I'm pregnant," she said, cats safely stowed in cages, "so we thought we better get out of here."

Radford called the waste fire the worst possible disaster. Roughly half the town of about 32,000 was forced to leave. The plant also contained pesticides and polychlorine biphenyls, or PCBs, Radford said.

On its Web site, the company calls its Apex plant "a single stop option for your waste management needs."

The Environmental Quality Co. was forced to shut down a hazardous waste recycling and treatment plant near Detroit in 2005 after an explosion sparked a fire.

The company has also recycled deicing fluid in Michigan and Ohio. In 1994, the company entered into a voluntary consent judgment with Michigan after a fire at a waste treatment plant. That judgment included a $500,000 penalty.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12172 Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12172
Officials report at least 28 people have been treated for respiratory and other problems apparently caused by the blaze.

Additional evacuations were ordered this morning, after officials feared a change in the wind direction could send the plume of smoke and chemicals into an even wider area of Apex.

The fire at EQ Carolina, which stands for Environmental Quality, erupted about 10 p.m. Thursday and sent flames shooting 150 feet into the air.

The company disposes of hazardous materials, and the fire billowed plumes of smoke, laced with chlorine gas and potentially pesticides and other toxins.

Police and fire fighters retreated from the scene.

Ten police officers and a fire fighter were going through decontamination and being treated early this morning after complaining of nausea and respiratory difficulty. Half of the emergency workers had been discharged by 9:30 a.m. with no signs of complications.

The flames also spread to a neighboring light oil company, igniting four oil tanks.

Officials in the town of 28,000 were most worried this morning about rain and shifting winds that could carry the fire’s plume into areas that hadn’t been affected earlier.

Emergency crews were encouraged by the effect of a morning rainfall that started shortly after 7 a.m. "The rain is the best thing that could have happened," said Keith Weatherly, Apex Mayor. The rain was scrubbing the air of the plume of toxic smoke, Weatherly said, quoting state environmental officials.

"The fire has gone down significantly," said Bruce Radford, Town Manager. Residents 2 miles from the plant reported being able to see the plume or smell the chemicals this morning.

In a news conference this morning, Weatherly warned onlookers to stay away.

“People are going to want to come and sight-see,” Weatherly said. “They will either get terribly sick, or they will be arrested. No questions asked.”

Town leaders evacuated a 1-mile radius around the plant, including police headquarters and the town’s 911 center. The evacuation area was on the west side of Apex. Weatherly said officials would wait until they are sure the site has stabilized and there's no further risk before allowing residents to return to their homes. "We will do that as expeditiously as is prudent," he said.

Evacuees initially took shelter at two elementary schools, although most in the middle- and upper-class suburban community of Raleigh headed to hotels or the homes of friends and relatives. Tom and Laurel Sumner awoke to police officers knocking on their door, shortly after 1 a.m.

The Sumners, recent transplants from New Hampshire, scooped up their daughters – 1-year-old Emily and 5-year-old Isabelle – but not much else.

“When they tell you to leave, you don’t think too long about what to take,” said Tom Sumner, as the family waited out the crisis at Olive Chapel Elementary School, along with 200 or so other evacuees.

Red Cross volunteers brought in food, cots, diapers and other essentials.

Hazardous materials teams from Raleigh and other neighboring cities came to Apex’s aid, but town officials were letting the fire burn out early this morning.

They expect Raleigh Hazmat team members to get a look at the fire later this morning, using Apex’s newest fire truck. The truck, which debuted in August, carries a 95-foot ladder that will provide an aerial view.

“Right now, we’re waiting for the hazmat team to get on the site and give us an assessment,” Radford, the town manager, said.

Apex officials reported no history of problems with EQ Carolina but acknowledged that they learned through the media this morning that state environmental officials issued citations and fines for safety violations earlier this year.

Weatherly, the mayor, said the town had not been alerted to the violations by the state.

“It certainly would have been prudent” to have told town leaders, Weatherly said.

Weatherly said that while the company was sited for violations earlier this year the most recent inspections on September 28 and 29 by the state division of hazardous waste showed no violations. Hazardous response teams from Raleigh were moving in to make an initial assessment of what remained in the fire around 9:30 a.m.

In addition to wind changes, officials feared that rain which began shortly after 7 a.m. could carry some of the toxins into new areas.

At least eight schools were closed Friday, and several roads leading into the town were sealed off.

The Associated Press reported that Robert Doyle, a spokesman for Detroit-based EQ Industrial Services, parent company of EQ Carolina, said the firm is sending an emergency response team to the Apex site to help with the cleanup.

Doyle said the company’s 25 employees left the building by 7 p.m. Thursday.

The Associated Press quoted Radford as saying some residents who live near the fire, in an industrial area near one of the town’s oldest residential neighborhoods, did not heed the evacuation request. He appeared on television around midnight to beg them to get away from what he called a “black, smoky cloud” that was covering downtown.

“They are taking their own lives at risk,” Radford told the AP. “They are putting themselves in very grave danger by being around this smoke.”

The fire forced officials to evacuate Apex’s 911 center and fire department. Radford said calls to 911 were still being received by Wake County, and the “reverse 911” system was used to call homes in Apex and relay emergency information.

Officials had hoped to get an aerial assessment of the flames overnight, but Civil Air Patrol Lt. Col. David Crawford said the survey flight was aborted because of weather. “This is one of the largest incidents and responses that I’ve seen,” he said.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12178 Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12178
Emergency workers observed what looked and smelled like a cloud of chlorine gas over the plant after fires broke out, but state air quality monitors hours later did not detect chlorine or any other health threat.

Apex Mayor Kevin Weatherly said Environmental Quality indicated that fertilizers and pesticides probably were on the property. A company spokesman said paints could have been there, too.

Still, regulators say they do not know yet whether dangerous materials were released into the air or creeks and waterways that flow into the Neuse River.

“We are very concerned about people’s safety and we will report what we find as soon as possible,” said Elizabeth Cannon, chief of the hazardous waste section at the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

The State Bureau of Investigation has assigned agents to determine whether crimes such as arson or environmental offenses contributed to the explosion. Criminal investigators with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are also expected. The agency routinely looks into explosions at regulated plants.

Environmental Quality Co. was in compliance with state rules governing the handling and storing of toxic chemicals. State inspectors visit such facilities at least four times a month and last inspected the Apex site Sept. 28 and 29, Cannon said.

Since taking ownership of the Apex facility in January 2003, Environmental Quality has accumulated routine “deficiencies.” Inspectors have found hazardous materials improperly stored together, for instance, and the contents of containers not clearly labeled, according to records.

In July 2003, DENR fined the outfit $32,000 after flammable waste was pumped into a tanker truck that was not cleaned of the acidic waste residue collected previously.

At the Apex facility, Environmental Quality collected many types of hazardous waste and recycled some from surrounding states. Much of its business involved collecting liquid that could be processed into fuels used by cement kilns, Cannon said. It also handled regulated materials such as research laboratory waste and flammable materials, which were shipped out of state.

Some materials that came through can ignite or are corrosive. They include heavy metals such as cadmium, chromium and mercury. The company also accepts hazardous organic materials, according to the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

As the fire burned, state regulators analyzed air repeatedly Friday and detected no worrisome chemical concentrations. They did detect a compound called BTEX, or a benzene toluene ethylene xylene complex, which is associated with toxic chemicals. They detected the chemical only concentrations measured in parts per billion, said Tom Mather, a DENR spokesman.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which studies industrial accidents to prevent them from reoccuring, also deployed a team, in part because a Michigan plant owned by Environmental Quality Co. of exploded last summer, apparently after volatile liquids were improperly mixed. The safety board investigators arrived Friday night, and were to begin work this morning.

Michigan regulators couldn’t detect whether mismanagement caused the problem and have not decided whether to let the company resume operations, said Robert McCann, spokesman for the state’s Department of Environmental Quality.

Another concern in Apex is whether heavy rains washed chemicals into waterways. Surface water flowing from the property would travel into Middle Creek, which connects to Sunset Lake, and then to Swift Creek, which empties into the Neuse River near Smithfield.

Smithfield’s public water supply probably would not be affected because the creek empties into the Neuse below where Smithfield draws water, said Susan Massengale, a DENR spokeswoman. State officials contacted the city of Goldsboro to encourage it to monitor downstream water.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12180 Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12180
On March 31, the industrial waste management company Environmental Quality was fined $32,000 for six violations, including one that state officials said created "the possibility of a sudden or non-sudden release of hazardous waste constituents to air, soil or surface water which could threaten human health or the environment."

EQ also was cited for storing a container of hazardous waste beside an incompatible one and for not clearly marking containers to identify their contents, according to the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Web site.

EQ and its predecessor at 1005 Investment Blvd., have a history of environmental violations and fines levied by the state environmental department. The civil penalties were assessed by the department's Hazardous Waste Section.

EQ is based in the Detroit suburb of Wayne, Mich., and employs 700 people nationwide. The Apex site stores and manages drums of hazardous waste.

In 2001, EnviroChem Environmental Services, a business at the same address, was fined $131,000 for violations similar to those cited this year. The eight violations included failures to mark containers as "Hazardous Waste," to maintain adequate access to a fire extinguisher, and to properly process mercury, which caused the release of mercury vapors that could have endangered the facility's workers.

The release of chlorine gas led to the nighttime evacuations of more than half of the town's 32,000 citizens.

Robert Doyle, an EQ spokesman based in Detroit, said there are 30 employees who work at the Apex plant and all were out of the facility by 7 p.m. Thursday. The fire started about 10 p.m. The site's general manager, whom Doyle declined to identify early Friday morning, returned after the fire broke out.

The Apex site stores paints, solvents and nonhazardous waste material, Doyle said, adding that with such a variety, he could only make assumptions about what was burning. He would not comment on what might be on fire or whether the fire or fumes were dangerous.

"There's several hundred drums of waste within the buildings on the site," Doyle said. "I can only assume that the burning is coming from that waste that is maintained on site. ... It's really difficult to tell what type of chemicals are part of the fire."

Emergency response to hazardous spills is listed among the company's various services.]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12175 Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/12175
EQ Industrial Services Inc. failed to "maintain and operate the facility to minimize the possibility of a sudden or non-sudden release of hazardous waste which could threaten human health or the environment," the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources found when issuing a $32,000 fine in March for six violations.

The fine, detailed on the department's Web site, was almost twice as much as any other assessed against a hazardous waste facility this year in North Carolina.

But a spokesman for EQ Industrial Services, which has more than 50 years of experience in the business, cautioned the violations may not have had anything to do with the fire that started late Thursday.

"That could range from anything like a spill of materials that could get in a storm drain," said Robert Doyle from the company's headquarters in Detroit. "It could be completely unrelated to something like a fire or explosion."

EQ Industrial Services, which specializes in the transportation, cleaning, remediation, and recycling of a hazardous and industrial waste, housed a variety of volatile chemicals, including chlorine, at its facility in Apex.

"Because of all the different types, we can't be sure what caused the fire," Doyle said. "I can't say the best way to put it out."

Firefighters were waiting for daybreak to inspect the fire. They were unable to get within 100 yards of the blaze overnight and feared using water or foam to fight it could add more fuel to the volatile mix of chemicals. Doyle said the company was mobilizing its own emergency response team to help with the clean up.

The fire and chemical release forced authorities to ask at least 17,000 people to evacuate their homes. Officials declared a local state of emergency, and pleaded with those who remained at home to stay inside, close all windows and turn off their air conditioning.

In the March citation, the state criticized the company for having insufficient plans to deal with a catastrophe, and also questioned its materials storage practices and its record-keeping.

"Since they were fined, they have been working on corrective action with the division of waste management," Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Diana Kees said early Friday.

Bruce Radford, the town manager in Apex, said he was unaware the state had recently fined the company.

"It certainly would have been prudent for us to be made aware of their noncompliance," he said.

Added Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly: "We've had no issue with them in the past."]]> http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/apex_hazardous_materials_fire Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0700 http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/apex_hazardous_materials_fire Representing Victims of Hazardous Materials Fire in Apex, NC On October 18, 2006 emergency crews evacuated businesses in the vicinity of a chemical waste plant after a chemical reaction sent a toxic plume into the air two weeks after a raging inferno at the same site forced thousands of people from their homes. The drum consisted of a sodium metal solution that can ignite when exposed to water or air, said Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly. The irritating fumes created by the reaction reportedly caused burning eyes.

The chemical plant belonging to EQ Industrial Services Co. had erupted in flames on Oct. 5, 2006 illuminating the sky with explosions and blanketing parts of town in a yellow-green haze. Town officials had urged as many as 17,000 people to evacuate, citing potentially toxic fumes that had made a few dozen people seek medical attention.

The toxic reaction erupted one day after the State Department of Environment and Natural Resources had approved the company's cleanup plan. The agency closed down the work at the site and asked EQ Industrial to provide a written report detailing the cause of latest reaction and steps being taken to ensure public safety. State regulators say more tests will be conducted on the ground and water and they expect to release a report on air quality later this week.

A serious hazardous materials fire in North Carolina has forced 17,000 residents to evacuate. Hospital officials said 18 people were already sent to emergency rooms, and more injuries resulting from burns and inhalation were expected.

The fire was at Environmental Quality Co., a hazardous waste business that housed a variety of highly toxic chemicals, including chlorine, paints and solvents. Because of the chemicals involved, firefighters believe the best option might be to simply wait for the fire to burn itself out.

Of the 18 people hospitalized, eight were law enforcement officers and one is a firefighter who complained of nausea and respiratory problems. Nine other residents were being treated for "respiratory distress.”

The inhalation of higher concentrations of chlorine can lead to respiratory distress, causing airway constriction and pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs). Patients exposed to chlorine may have immediate onset of rapid breathing, blue discoloration of the skin, wheezing, rales or hemoptysis. In symptomatic patients, pulmonary injury may progress over several hours. Lung collapse may occur. The lowest lethal concentration for a 30-minute exposure has been estimated as 430 ppm. Exposure to chlorine can lead to reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS), a chemical irritant-induced type of asthma.

Children may be more vulnerable to corrosive agents than adults because of the smaller diameter of their airways. Children may also be more vulnerable to gas exposure because of increased minute ventilation per kg and failure to evacuate an area promptly when exposed.

Long term exposure to chlorine, which usually occurs in the workplace, is also linked with cancer, corrosion of the teeth, flu-like symptoms and a high risk of developing reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS).]]>