Josh Meltzer/The Roanoke Times

W.E.L. environmental cleanup worker Ryan Foster calls in a report to a supervisor Tuesday while sitting stop one of the dams meant to keep pollutants from entering water sources. W.E.L., a Lynchburg company, built two dams.

Wednesday, March 27, 2002
Air quality at the Buck Mountain site is deteriorating as tires continue to smolder
EPA to take over tire cleanup

Also Tuesday, a Norfolk Southern spokeswoman said inspections did not indicate that a passing train sparked the fire.

By KIMBERLY O'BRIEN
THE ROANOKE TIMES

   With the Buck Mountain brush fire now under control, the Environmental Protection Agency will soon step in to manage the cleanup of the tire dump in Southwest Roanoke County, officials said Tuesday.

    The work is far from over - the tires could still burn for weeks or months - but the EPA should be able to take over the cleanup within the next day or two after getting legal access to the property, county Fire and Rescue Chief Richard Burch said.

    The EPA wouldn't say much about its involvement Tuesday, although spokesman Fran Burns suggested that the agency might provide funding. Burch, however, said that funding hadn't been determined and that it could come from a variety of local, state and federal sources.

    When the EPA stepped in to clean up the remains of a Frederick County tire fire that burned for nine months in the 1980s, the cost ended up being about $10 million, which the EPA has footed through federal Superfund money. Seventeen years after the fire, the project is in its final phase.

    But Burch said that right now, the focus in Roanoke County isn't as much on the funding as it is on figuring out exactly what exists on W.J. Keeling's 140-acre property and how to deal with an estimated 3 million to 4 million burning and smoldering tires.

    The tires have been burning since Saturday afternoon, when a brush fire that officials said started off the railroad tracks along Starlight Lane moved onto Keeling's land, igniting the tires.

    Fire officials are still investigating the cause and said Monday that they hadn't ruled out sparks from a passing train. But Norfolk Southern spokeswoman Susan Bland said Tuesday that although a train went through the area about the time the fire started, inspections of the train indicated it didn't cause the fire.

    Starlight Lane resident Jane Orange, who called 911, said she saw the end of a train go by when she noticed the fire.

    For several days, firefighters dealt with two fires - the tire fire and the brush fire, which spread to more than 1,000 acres. Firefighters contained the brush fire Monday, putting a line around the blaze and setting backfires to use up fuel in its path.

    About 2 p.m. Tuesday, officials declared the fire under control.

    The EPA, along with representatives from the state departments of Environmental Quality, Emergency Management and Forestry and the Roanoke Health Department, have been working alongside county firefighters, officials and hazardous materials experts since the fire broke out.

    Officials have said they're working on a plan to deal with the tires, which could involve letting them burn out, pulling the fire apart and extinguishing it in parts or smothering it.

    Monday night, the EPA flew over the site to determine hot spots with an infrared camera. But planned visits to the site by hazardous materials teams on Tuesday to survey the land were postponed because some equipment wasn't ready.

    Because air quality at the tire fire site has deteriorated, any crews going to the site must wear respiratory - protection equipment.

    The air quality there has worsened because the tires, many of which are underground, are smoldering. And the change in weather has kept the smoke from blowing away. The air contains volatile organic compounds that include benzene, xylene and sulfur, which can be dangerous to breathe.

    Away from the site, the air does not register those hazardous materials, said Brett Burdick of the Department of Emergency Management. And Tuesday's rain was thought to have improved the quality of the smoky, ashy air that prompted a health advisory. Still, the advisory remains in effect in the Roanoke Valley until more air quality readings can be taken.

    Also Tuesday, containment devices built to keep runoff from entering water sources seemed to work, Burdick said. As of early afternoon, there did not appear to be any runoff, officials said.

    Anyone with questions about the fire can call the county's public information line at 561-8088.

    Staff writer LOIS CALIRI contributed to this report.

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