THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 6, 1995 TAG: 9509060469
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
A Norfolk General District judge last week ordered Milton S. Fine, president of Fine Petroleum Co., to pay $12,500 in fines in relation to a chemical fire that destroyed a petroleum warehouse in May.
Judge Katherine Howe Jones ordered Fine to pay $2,500 for each fire code violation. He also was ordered to pay the city at least $100,000 in restitution.
The charges were filed after the devastating May 20 fire at the Fine Petroleum Co. warehouse, at the end of St. Julian Avenue near Calvary Cemetery.
Ed Palaszewski, supervisor inspector for the Norfolk Fire Prevention Bureau, said Fine was charged with:
Failure to have a facility closure plan submitted.
Failure to safeguard property from unauthorized entry.
Failure to have a site plan showing drains, firefighting materials and storage materials.
Failure to have a current list of personnel and phone numbers on-site.
Failure to keep the Material Safety Data Sheet on premises.
``Without those key five things, the fire may not have started and it could have been better understood what needed to be done . . . without endangering the public,'' Palaszewski said Tuesday.
The offenses were Class 1 misdemeanors, but because the charges were brought against the company, and not Fine himself, no jail time was ordered. He appealed the verdict, Palaszewski said.
Three teens were arrested in connection with starting the fire in a loading dock, Palaszewski said.
Fine testified that the warehouse was closed, Palaszewski said, but he had not submitted to fire officials the required facility closure plan that details the contents of the building and the condition of the property.
Fed by hundreds of drums of chemicals, the fire burned for hours, spewing a cloud of thick, black smoke that was visible for miles. More than 200 55-gallon drums - and thousands of smaller containers - of unmarked and potentially hazardous chemicals were scattered throughout the two-story structure.
Firefighters and Environmental Protection Agency personnel were hindered in the cleanup because they did not know exactly what materials they were dealing with.
Palaszewski said EPA officials are still categorizing and packing materials at the fire site. The building has been removed. Workers may be cleaning up the site through October, he said. by CNB