On February 24, 2017, at approximately 1449 hours, Randolph County Emergency Management Agency request EPA assistance at a fire incident at Covanta Environmental Solutions in Asheboro NC. The Facility is located at 2242 Carl Drive, Asheboro, North Carolina. This fire started at approximately 1230 hours when an industrial shredder caught fire and ignited two large piles of tire byproduct. The facility has reported to local officials that the piles consist of 24,000 tons of unvulcanized rubber tire byproduct. The facility is adjacent to residential neighborhoods, a battery plant and an unnamed tributary of the Hasketts Creek. Local authorities have evacuated the nearby battery plant and two residents, additional residents have voluntarily evacuated. The unnamed tributary has been impacted by the firefighting runoff water and other products of tire combustion. Several pockets of black soot can be seen for approximately 500 feet in the unnamed tributary behind the facility. As of 2/24/2017 the fire has not been completely extinguished. No injuries or fatalities have been reported.
Several local fire departments have responded and began firefighting operations. The local fire department has deployed absorbent booms in the unnamed tributary. North Carolina Regional Hazardous Material Response Team responded to assist the local fire departments and is conducting air monitoring for VOCs and CO. The highest level of VOC observed was 2 ppm and 30 ppm of CO was observed beside the fire. State and County Emergency Management Officials are on scene.
On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) Brian Englert, Regional Readiness Center (RRC) Contractors and Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team (START) Contractors were deploy to the Incident Command Post. A Natural Resources Trustee consult was held with the Region 4 Department of Interior Representative and with the local US Fish and Wildlife Representative. Notifications have been made to North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Health. There are currently no impacts to surface water drinking intakes; however, drinking water impacts will be continually assessed throughout the duration of the incident. OSC Englert will integrate into Unified Command and provide technical assistance. START and RRC contractors will conduct residential air monitoring, surface water impact assessments, surface water sampling and other operations as requested by Unified Command.
EPA arrived on the night of 2/24/2017. Discussions between EPA and the PRP revealed that the burning material, initially reported as tires, is actually an unvulcanized rubber which is a byproduct of the tire manufacturing process. Except for small pockets of smoldering material, large portions of the fire have been extinguished. Several portions of the fire continue to reignite.
VIPER was deployed soon after EPA’s arrival. Initial results from a roving deployment of VIPER confirmed that evacuation of a nearby residential area was not necessary as the majority of smoke from the fire was moving northwest away from residential areas. After arrival of EPA and initial discussions between Unified Command members fire suppression operations moved away from suppression and focused on dunking operations. This substantially reduced overall smoke emissions from the fire. Overnight air monitoring with VIPER indicates PM2.5 levels in neighborhoods remain mostly within acceptable levels. High levels of PM2.5 were been observed immediately north west of the smoldering fire during the night.
As of 2/25/2017 Unified command is confident the fire is out and the majority of hotspots have been eliminated by the dunking process. One firetruck and two firemen will remain onscene. Currently crews working for the responsible party are segregating unvulcanized rubber materials into piles for evaluation with dunk tanks on standby.
A survey of Hasketts Creek revealed approximately 12-15 dead fish. Notifications to federal and state agencies have been made. The state is issuing a fish consumption advisory for the Hasketts Creek Area. No sheen has been observed on the unnamed tributary or Hasketts creek but there are portions of the unnamed tributary which are impacted with black soot which cannot be effectively captured using boom. Hay bales and multiple layers of soft boom have placed at several locations along the unnamed tributary leading to Hasketts Creek. The responsible party has finalized an O&M plan which OSC Englert has approved. Over the coming week, the responsible party will flush portions of the creek and use a vactruck to collect any discharged black soot.
As of the evening of 2/26/2017 VIPER operations have ceased and EPA contractors are making plans to demobilize. No additional hotspots were found during the night of 2/25/2017 and EPA returned to the site on 2/26/2017 to check on O&M progress. EPA demobilized on 2/26/2017.
