The EPA has confirmed the presence of several toxic chemicals in the ruins of a Richmond warehouse. The My Way Trading facility caught fire in April and burned for several days. On-scene coordinator Allen Jarrell says they found what they suspected was there.
"We did some sampling, somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 samples," Jarrell says. "We found a few contaminates, like a high level of lead, benzene, and taurine. Those are the ones that we were mainly concerned about. So, essentially, asbestos, metals and some VoCs."
Those are volatile organic compounds.
Fire destroyed the massive warehouse in late April. Smoke from the fire led to evacuations.
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"We got quite a bit of debris to mitigate … and stabilize," Jarrell adds. "It's going to take several months. Say if we start in September, mid-September, we could very well end up going to the end of the year, weather permitting."
Jarrell says if the weather becomes a factor, the work will have to wait until next spring. He says the site is not a threat to neighbors, as long as it's not disturbed.
