Evacuation orders lifted for residents impacted by Indiana recycling plant fire

By Nouran Salahieh and Artemis Moshtaghian, CNN

The evacuation order in place since Tuesday for residents near a recycling plant fire in Richmond, Indiana, was lifted Sunday after officials determined it was safe for residents to return to their homes, Wayne County Emergency Management said.

The agency consulted with the county’s health department and state health partners in reviewing “several sets of testing data provided by the Environmental Protection Agency,” and all parties determined that the areas are safe, city officials announced.

Residents who live within a half-mile radius of the recycling plant — about 2,000 of Richmond’s 35,000 residents — had been under a mandatory evacuation order after the massive inferno exploded at the plastic-filled recycling plant Tuesday, sending thick, black smoke over the area.

Officials had warned that the smoke the fire spawned was “definitely toxic,” forcing the closure of Richmond public schools for days as the US EPA performed air sampling and monitoring tests in the area.

Richmond Community Schools is keeping closed all schools in the district Monday to ensure that their buildings are safe for staff and students, according to a post on Facebook.

Indiana University East will return to regular operations starting Monday, according to a post on the university’s official Facebook page.

As for the blaze itself, the fire was 99% extinguished, but odors may linger into the week, the county’s emergency management agency said Sunday.

“Right now, there is no plume, there is no product being off-gassed from the fire itself,” Brown told CNN Saturday. “What we have coming off of it is mainly a white smoke or some steam. We have no plume. We have a slight wind, which is kind of pushing things out.”

Inside the facility, there are hot spots and occasional small fires that will continue to smolder for days and produce smoke, soot or the smell of burnt plastic, emergency officials said.

In the meantime, work is underway to clear debris scattered in the community from the toxic fire.

Some samples of debris from the area tested positive for asbestos containing materials, Wayne County emergency officials said, citing preliminary tests by the EPA.

“Because all debris has the potential to contain asbestos, it is important that a trained professional remove all materials suspected to be from the fire,” emergency officials said, asking residents to not disturb or touch any debris they find on their property.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring, but very toxic, substance that was once widely used for insulation. When inhaled or ingested, asbestos fibers can become trapped in the body, and may eventually cause genetic damage to the body’s cells. Exposure may also cause mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer.

Crews in protective gear began collecting debris from three schools near the fire site on Saturday, including three in Richmond and one school in Ohio.

Officials said that schools impacted with debris will be cleared first, and then contractors will begin to deploy drones to search rooftops for additional debris, according to the post.

“After school grounds are cleared, these contractors will begin removing debris from residential properties, parks and/or public areas, and businesses,” city officials say in the post.

The county said the EPA is bringing in federal contractors to assist with the proper cleanup and removal of visible debris in both Indiana and Ohio.

Chemicals officials are concerned about

A primary health concern to residents is particulate matter, which could cause respiratory problems if inhaled, Christine Stinson, who heads the Wayne County Health Department, previously said.

At the fire zone’s center, the chemicals hydrogen cyanide, benzene, chlorine, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, were detected, the EPA said Friday. They were not detected outside the evacuation zone, the agency said.

Potentially harmful VOCs also were found in six air samples, the agency said, without saying where the samples were taken.

Particulate matter also was found inside and outside the half-mile evacuation zone, as expected, the agency said.

Additionally, one of two air samples taken a little more than a mile from the fire site detected chrysotile asbestos in debris, an EPA official said Thursday. Also called white asbestos, chrysotile asbestos can cause cancer and is used in products from cement to plastics to textiles.

Only N95-type masks will filter out finer particles, and the Wayne County Health Department is recommending that people wear them while cleaning out their homes when first returning to them.

As for water quality, testing downstream of the fire site is underway and officials say they have “not found anything of immediate alarm, including any sign of fish kills.”

Crews did find some ash and loose plastic debris, “but weir booms have been installed and are successfully capturing this material. Likewise, Indiana American Water has also been closely monitoring the drinking water and has reported no unusual readings or results from testing,” Wayne County emergency officials said.

The agency is awaiting the result of a water test to determine whether it is safe to swim in the river.

“We will continue to monitor the river and its tributaries even after the fire is out, as rain events and runoff could bring more materials to the river,” the agency said.

Some plastic made it to the river, the emergency management agency said, and more may come from rains until cleanup is complete.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation and likely won’t be known for weeks, officials said. But local leaders have shared concerns since at least 2019 that the facility had hazards and building code violations, records show.

The mayor has accused the plant’s owner of ignoring a city order to clean up the property, saying the plant was a fire hazard.

CNN has sought comment from the plant’s owner, Seth Smith. The attorney who previously represented Smith in a related lawsuit declined to comment.

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CNN’s Aya Elamroussi contributed to this report.