Chemical Fire, Explosions Rock North Carolina Town

The U.S. Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSHIB) said Friday it is sending a team to Apex, N.C., to begin investigating a chemical fire and a series of explosions at the site of a hazardous waste facility operated by Environmental Quality Co. (EQ).

CSHIB said reports indicate that a chemical fire began around 9 PM on Oct. 5, causing a series of explosions at the plant, which is located about 10 miles southwest of Raleigh. As many as 17,000 residents were evacuated to shelters, and several roads were closed. No fatalities and no serious injuries were reported.

EQ is a hazardous and industrial waste management company that operates 14 facilities in the U.S., including a facility in Romulus, Mich., that experienced a major fire in 2005, according to CSHIB.

Robert Doyle, a spokesman for Wayne, Mich.-based EQ, said about 25 employees work at the Apex plant, but all had left the building by early Thursday evening. He said the facility handles many different types of industrial waste and stores chemicals such as chlorine and sulfur, as well as pesticides and fertilizer.

CSHIB said a team led by chief investigator Robert Hall and board member William B.Wark, an expert in emergency management, would arrive in Apex Friday evening and begin their investigative work on Saturday.

The team will collect information that will help the board decide whether to conduct a full investigation of the root causes of the incident.

North Carolina Gov. Michael F. Easley said Friday that state resources were deployed immediately following notification of the fire at the EQ complex.

"The state has had several emergency resources involved since early this morning," Easley said. "We're prepared to offer Apex and Wake County whatever they need to help them protect the residents and get the situation under control."

An air toxics team has been on-site and has detected "nothing alarming," according to a statement by the North Carolina Department of Environment & Natural Resources. Monitors on-site are testing for a whole range of pollutants.