THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 1, 1995 TAG: 9506010451
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARA STANLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Despite assurances from authorities that a huge fire at a petrochemical warehouse May 20 caused little environmental damage and posed few health hazards, residents of surrounding neighborhoods remain concerned.
``I couldn't sleep for two days because of the fumes,'' said Samuel Grigsby, 44, of the 2200 block of Harrell Ave.
Grigsby, who said he is worried about his health, was one of about 50 residents who attended a public meeting Wednesday night at Roberts Park Elementary School.
Another resident, 50-year-old Mary Clayton, said she has lived for 20 years in the 1000 block of Rainey Drive, ``right across the street'' from the fire site. She said she becomes upset ``when I think of all of those children running around there and when I think of those dilapidated buildings across the street.''
The meeting was sponsored by local politicians to ease fears that the fire at Fine Petroleum Co. Inc., where various chemicals and petroleum products were stored, posed a threat to the community.
The spectacular blaze, fed by hundreds of exploding drums of fuel and chemicals, belched a huge cloud of toxic smoke that was visible for miles. Various drums of chemicals were left amid the charred wreckage of the warehouse.
``No air quality problems have existed since the night of the fire,'' Ronald Wakeham, director of the Department of Fire and Paramedical Services, said Wednesday night. Tests also indicated there was no chemical runoff into groundwater, Wakeham told residents.
``There is no indication that anybody was being harmed from the contamination,'' he said. ``There is virtually no hazard to any residents in the community or to any aircraft flying over.''
He did warn parents, however, to keep their children from playing near the site.
Calvin Durham, president of the Lindenwood, Cottage Heights and Barraud Park Civic League, was not convinced that residents have nothing to fear.
``If you don't know what's in the building, how do you know nothing has been emitted into the atmosphere?'' he asked. ``There were quite a lot of chemicals burning, but there were no contaminants in the air?''
Durham also said that until the fire, most of residents didn't know they lived next to a major petrochemical facility.
U.S. Rep. Robert C. Scott, a sponsor of the meeting, said he was concerned about comments by Assistant City Attorney Cynthia Hall that companies do not have to report that they use hazardous chemicals so long as they designate the materials as ``products'' and not ``waste.''
``That's something we're going to look into,'' Scott said after the meeting. ILLUSTRATION: U.S. Rep. Robert C. Scott was a sponsor of a meeting to ease
fears about the effects of the Fine Petroleum Co. Inc. fire.
KEYWORDS: FIRE CHEMICALS by CNB