City of Richmond to retake control of My Way Trading Warehouse site after EPA concludes cleanup

Evan Weaver, Richmond Palladium-Item
·2 min read
Smoke rises from an industrial fire April 11, 2023, at 358 NW F St. in Richmond.
Smoke rises from an industrial fire April 11, 2023, at 358 NW F St. in Richmond.

RICHMOND, Ind. — Ten months after the city of Richmond and the United States Environmental Protection Agency outlined plans to clean up the site of the My Way Trading Warehouse fire, the work is completed, at least on the EPA's end.

Last Wednesday, March 20, the EPA published an update to its site profile, stating that the agency has "completed cleanup of potential asbestos-containing materials."

The EPA anticipated Friday that all of its equipment and personnel would be removed from the site, and that this week the agency planned to hand the site back to the city to "complete its non-hazardous cleanup."

All potential asbestos-containing materials had been removed from the site as of March 4 and disposed of in an appropriate facility. The EPA added that it collected four samples and all of which came back "non-detect" for asbestos, as well as "non-detect" results for personal air sampling and stationary sampling.

There have been no updates from the city since the EPA's announcement last week.

How did the fire happen?

Richmond Mayor Dave Snow addresses the media during a press conference about a large fire April 13, 2023.
Richmond Mayor Dave Snow addresses the media during a press conference about a large fire April 13, 2023.

In 2019, the Richmond Unsafe Building Commission cited the site's owner, Seth Smith, ordering him to clean up the property because it was a fire hazard.

Last April, Dave Snow, mayor at the time, told the Palladium-Item that Smith ignored the orders even after a Wayne County judge sided with the city in Smith’s appeal five months later.

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“This was a fear for us and why we’ve taken so many steps to prevent this from happening,” Snow told the Pal-Item. “That business owner is fully responsible for all of this. … Everything that’s ensued here — the fire, the damages, the risk our first responders have taken and the risk our citizens are under — is the responsibility of that negligent business owner."

Last October, the EPA issued a liability letter to Cornerstone Trading Group, LLC but didn't issue one to the city.

More: Who’s at fault for Richmond fire? Code violations date back years

The Pal-Item has left a voicemail for Jacob Troxell, one of the attorneys listed for Smith in an ongoing case against Tushawn Craig, Marquetta Stokes and Limitless Pallets, LLC, for a response to Snow's statement and will update the story accordingly.

A voicemail was also left for Mayor Ron Oler's office for additional comment to this story.

This story will be updated.

Evan Weaver is a news and sports reporter at The Palladium-Item. Contact him on X (@evan_weaver7) or email at eweaver@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: My Way Trading Warehouse Fire EPA cleanup of asbestos completed