Richmond outlines warehouse fire cleanup

Richmond, Indiana – One month has passed since a sizable fire at a recycling center in Richmond forced thousands of homeowners to leave their homes.

In a release issued on Thursday, Richmond’s mayor, David Snow, describes actions and subsequent procedures to clear up the remaining items.

Snow said that in order to send heavy equipment to the location so that the cleanup procedure can begin, the city’s police and street agencies are coordinating with the Environmental Protection Agency.

The initial steps include:

• Identification of the materials/debris on the site. EPA will conduct sampling beginning on May 15.
• Development of a plan to safely remove and properly dispose of the materials/debris.
• Safe removal and disposal of materials/debris.
• Follow-up environmental testing at the site.

The city also intends to conduct environmental tests after developing a plan for the secure removal of materials.

“Although the full clean-up effort will take quite some time, we’re working diligently to get it moving,” said Mayor Snow. “The sooner we get started the sooner we’ll get it finished. We’re going to keep pushing forward every day until we can put this behind us and look ahead.”

As new information becomes available, both the City of Richmond and the EPA will continue to update their websites.