RICHMOND — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the site of a huge warehouse fire in Richmond in April was contaminated with lead, benzene and asbestos.
The EPA last week confirmed what officials suspected from the start: Toxic waste was found in debris samples from the fire at My Way Trading warehouse.
The blazing inferno started on April 11 and burned for four days. prompting Wayne County officials to order anyone within half-mile to evacuate because of possible cancer-causing toxins in the smoke.
Richmond Mayor Dave Snow said in April that the facility's owner received numerous citations and warnings from the city.
"This business owner had previously been cited by our Unsafe Building Commission and given an order to clean up the property; that order was ignored," Snow said as the fire still burned. "That business owner is fully responsible for all of this."
A couple weeks after the fire, two Richmond residents and a business filed a class-action lawsuit against the facility owner, Seth Smith and Cornerstone Trading Group.
The plaintiffs allege that the warehouse owner failed to address "ultra-hazardous conditions" within the facility, leading to the evacuations of 2,000 people.
WRTV on Tuesday emailed Smith's lawyer, Ronald Moore of Richmond, seeking a comment.
MORE | Richmond residents file class action lawsuit against property owner over massive fire | 'Definitely toxic': Wayne County officials ask residents to continue honoring evacuation order following fire
Contact WRTV reporter Vic Ryckaert at victor.ryckaert@wrtv.com or on Twitter: @vicryc.
