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EPA test results show elevated lead, aluminum levels at Richmond warehouse fire site; expert says results shouldn't worry nearby residents

The EPA's website for the former My Way Trading Warehouse fire showed the agency collected 54 soil and debris samples back in May.

RICHMOND, Ind. — The Environmental Protection Agency has released the results of environmental testing from the site of the massive fire at a Richmond, Indiana, warehouse that burned for days in April.

13 Investigates reporter Cierra Putman reviewed the EPA's findings, which indicated some elevated levels of metals, including lead, aluminum and zinc, at the site.

But a local researcher told 13News the results should not worry people who live near the site.

The EPA's website for the former My Way Trading Warehouse fire showed the agency collected 54 soil and debris samples back in May. Twenty-nine were tested specifically for asbestos, and none was detected.

Another 25 samples were tested for a variety of substances. The EPA found some elevated levels of metals and Volatile Organic Compounds.

"This report is largely about that site itself. So they're trying to get the site cleaned up, so that it can be safely reused for some other purpose," said Gabriel Filippelli, an Indiana University researcher. "So people near that site needn't be concerned about that."

Richmond's fire chief told 13News his conversation with the EPA led him to the same conclusion.

The 14-acre warehouse for chipped, shredded and bulk plastics caught fire on April 11, 2023, and burned for several days, leading to the cancellation of schools for several days as plumes of black, toxic smoke billowed into the air.

Tons of recycled plastic stored for resale caught fire. The site is about 70 miles east of Indianapolis, near the Ohio border.

Approximately 2,000 people were forced to evacuate from their homes.   

The man operating the storage site was under a 2020 court order to clean up the site, which had no utilities and had been declared a serious fire hazard by inspectors. Richmond officials said they had barred him from accepting more plastics while he was working to get rid of the vast holdings.

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