U.S. EPA begins $3.3M cleanup at Richmond, Ind., property, site of massive industrial fire

U.S EPA crews have begun sorting and removing hazardous debris from a massive fire earlier this year at a Richmond, Indiana, plastic recycling facility warehouse.

The fire was at the My Way Trading warehouse, a large plastic recycling facility on 14 acres. Almost all of it burned, including a building with nearly 12 million pounds of plastic, which released giant plumes of black smoke and toxic chemicals.

The $3.3 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup will be at the 310 and 358 NW F St. properties. That includes about eight acres officials said were contaminated with asbestos-containing materials and other hard metals like lead and antimony.

The agency will only focus on contaminated debris and fire-damaged structures on those eight acres since chemicals requiring EPA cleanup weren't found on other parts of the site, said Allen Jarrell, an EPA on-scene coordinator.

“The cleanup will not include every facility that was part of the fire,” Jarrell said. “During a sampling this summer, EPA did not find any ACM, i.e. asbestos containing materials other than that on this eight acre parcel.”

Remediating the rest of the property is up to the City of Richmond. In a statement last month, the city said it’s pursuing legal claims against Cornerstone Trading Group — the My Way Trading parent company — for the costs related to the fire and the environmental investigation.