The residential evacuations and local school closures due to the InterRoyal Mill fire in Plainfield, CT have been lifted. This decision was made by the local health department, in conjunction with Unified Command, at approximately 1100 hours on Thursday, April 28th. Four hours later, at approximately 0300 hours on Friday, April 29th, Unified Command dissolved and EPA assumed Incident Command for response activities at InterRoyal Mill.
Fire fighting and demolition activities have ceased for the time being. EPA has a crane standing by in case further limited demolition (conducted concurrently with dust suppression/watering) is necessary to access remaining smoldering areas within the building and eliminate combustion emissions and sources of airborne (via smoke) contamination.
EPA continues to conduct total particulate (dusts) air monitoring at the InterRoyal Mill and surrounding areas, including during demolition activities. The most recent data collected show dust levels to be below the incident health action level at all air monitoring stations. The site action level is the OSHA Permissible Exposure Level [PEL] of 150 ug/m3 – National Ambient Air Quality Standard [NAAQS] based on exposure averaged over 24 hours.
The horizontal extent of the asbestos-contaminated debris field has been characterized as an approximately 5 mile by ½ mile area with most of the heavy debris fall-out within 2 miles of the mill. Debris collection throughout the neighborhood continues, with seven teams (a total of 60 workers) working 12-hour shifts (0700-1900 hours) through the weekend and following week as necessary. Residences and schools have been prioritized for cleanup, followed by publicly-owned properties, open areas, etc. Consistent with previous EPA asbestos removal actions, collection teams are moving through the neighborhood, conducting thorough visual examinations of exterior surfaces (lawns, roofs, gutters, spouts, etc.) and collecting visible debris by hand. Fine materials may be collected with vacuum trucks or vacuum back-packs.
One of EPA’s prime objectives is to ensure the health and safety of responders. The Health and Safety Plan (HASP) developed for the emergency response requires at least 2 days of personal air monitoring (chest pumps) for cleanup workers. Workers will be able to downgrade level of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) if sampling results show airborne asbestos concentrations below the incident health action level: one-half of the OSHA 8-hour Time Weighted Average (TWA) PEL of 0.05 fibers/cm3 (as opposed to 0.1 fibers/cm3 as previously reported). Sampling results from the first day of personal air monitoring are all below the incident action level.
Twenty-four hour site security for the emergency response continues to be maintained by the local police department. EPA will continue to evaluate site security needs to determine when a transition from police-lead to a commercial security service is appropriate.
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