MORAINE — Officials have released information about what’s been found in the air around the fire site at Fuyao Glass America.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, the roof fire at Fuyao Glass America was placed under control on Tuesday afternoon, almost 48 hours after it was initially reported.
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News Center 7’s John Bedell reached out to the City of Moraine, and both the Ohio and U.S. EPA after he obtained an air monitoring report.
It came from three monitoring stations the U.S. EPA has set up around the fire site.
The report said it found particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
A college professor said there’s always some level of particulate matter and VOCs in the air, but the fire is adding to that, and it’s carried downwind in a smoke plume.
The U.S. EPA said in a statement Tuesday afternoon:
“After receiving a request from Moraine Fire Division to provide air monitoring at the Fuyao Glass America facility fire, EPA arrived around 5 p.m. on March 23, and immediately established roving and stationary air monitoring locations around the fire site. EPA is monitoring for particulates and volatile organic compounds. The stationary monitoring samples were collected this morning and taken to a lab for analysis. Currently, air monitoring results around the fire site show particulates and VOCs within acceptable levels.
EPA will continue air monitoring throughout the day in support of Moraine Fire Division, the lead agency in this response.
Based on the limited information that available so far, air monitoring results do not appear to show a concern to human health. Updates will be posted to our website: response.epa.gov/FuyaoGlassAmericaFire, including air monitoring results for VOCs and particulates. The air monitoring data show a quick snapshot of monitoring results. Air samples were also taken overnight and will be analyzed by a lab and posted once the data has been quality checked and is final.”
News Center 7’s John Bedell showed the U.S. EPA air monitoring report to Dr. Peter DeCarlo, a professor at Johns Hopkins University.
He has a PHD in Atmospheric Science and has been studying air pollution for two decades.
News Center 7’s John Bedell asked him if the levels of PM and VOCs the U.S. EPA found were normal.
“Just for kind of reference, cleaning products that smell like lemon or pine, those chemicals are VOCs. And those aren’t necessarily harmful. Those scents are not necessarily harmful, but there are other VOCs that can be quite harmful. And so, without having a detailed understanding of what exactly the VOCs are at that level, it’s hard to really assess what the health impacts are. In any case, if those are due to the fire, I would try to avoid that location,” DeCarlo said.
The Ohio EPA also said on Tuesday that it is working to determine whether any water runoff from firefighters working to put out the flames has reached the Great Miami River.
The closest point to the fire site is the Riverbank, which is almost exactly a mile away.
The Ohio EPA also said it did limited air monitoring using handheld screening devices and found nothing of concern:
“On Monday, Ohio EPA’s Office of Emergency Response (OER) was on site and conducted limited air monitoring using handheld screening devices. The monitoring screened for several gases and vapors, including Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S), dioxygen (O2), and the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL), which refers to the lowest concentration of a gas or vapor in the air that can ignite an explosion. Nothing of concern was detected from this monitoring.
Ohio EPA staff are back on scene today and are working with the U.S. EPA regarding air-related concerns. For information about the air monitoring it is doing, you can contact U.S. EPA.
OER is also working with our agency’s Division of Surface Water to determine whether any firefighting runoff (from helping to extinguish the fire) reached the Great Miami River. The river is almost a mile away from the site. Only “Class A” foam has been used during this incident, meaning no AFFF containing PFAS was used,” an Ohio EPA spokesperson said.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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