RICHMOND, Ind. — There’s a new twist to the toxic fire investigation in Richmond.
For the first time since the flames sent a massive smoke plume into Richmond and beyond, lawyers are saying someone started the fire on purpose.
What’s left of the toxic fire in Richmond is fenced off and locked up. News Center 7 Investigative Reporter John Bedell spent Thursday pressing for answers over allegations in new court documents and the work being done to find out what’s in that debris pile.
Jenny Tinkle has questions about when the mess across the street from her work will be history.
“We would love to see it cleaned up, but we understand it’s a lot, I mean, it’s a lot to clean up,” Tinkle said.
There are now new allegations about what started the fire.
In a new court filing, lawyers for the owner of the plastic recycling business that was operating when the fire started wrote at one point “The initial ignition which resulted in the subsequent fire was caused by an unknown arsonist.”
Thursday, News Center 7 emailed those lawyers asking how they knew that.
>> PHOTOS: Large-scale fire sends plumes of black smoke into air in Richmond
They responded, saying their filing in the civil lawsuit against their client speaks for itself without further comment.
News Center 7 also emailed Richmond’s fire chief Thursday and asked if the fire was being investigated as arson. He said the cause is under investigation and that as of Thursday, no ruling has been made.
The cleanup isn’t the only question Tinkle has. She wants to know about the samples the EPA took from the debris pile testing for possible hazardous materials.
“Anyone around this area, I’m sure, is very interested in what those results are,” Tinkle said.
The EPA took samples May 15. As of Thursday morning, the agency had not released test results. News Center 7 reached out to the U.S. EPA again on Thursday, which told this news organization they expect to get the validated results by the end of this week.
Once they get the results, the agency said they will publish them online.
For the civil suit, the business owner’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss the case against their client. The judge has scheduled a hearing on the matter for October.