ROCKVILLE, Md. — Large clouds of black smoke filled several Rockville neighborhoods on Thursday due to a fire at a nearby quarry that burned for seven hours.
Montgomery County Fire officials say three tanks at FO Day Aggregates, filled with liquid asphalt and used motor oil, caught on fire. While the fire burned, officials warned residents to avoid going outdoors, calling it a bad-quality air day.
A day later, several residents contacted WUSA9 about their growing concern with the quarry that produces asphalt.
“Me for example, I have asthma and I can feel the exacerbation more frequently because of that.” Elena Anders said.
Anders and her husband bought their home in 1998. She was made aware that she lived near the quarry but was told she wouldn’t feel any of the impacts because she was two miles away. Since then, she says she's had to deal with daily fumes and gases.
“Very frequently, daily, we feel the smell and it hangs in the air and we have to breathe," she said. "It affects our health greatly.”
And, explosions that she says have caused cracks in her home over the years.
“They are supposed to give us siren warnings, but they often don’t and all of a sudden the house jumps. All cabinets are opened and things fall and it’s scary. There is a crack in my home my husband has had to fix because of that.” Anders explained.
She says she has reached out to the company several times over the past few years. She added that the company inspected the quarry a couple of years ago and she was told everything was safe.
“I don’t have an opportunity to move because we are seniors and we already paid off the house, so it’s extremely difficult to move,” Anders said.
WUSA9 found FO Day Aggregates was ordered to fix issues back in 2000. They had problems with odor, visible emission and permit violations. The company was ordered to pay $10,000 to the state.
WUSA9 reached out to Holcim US, the company that owns FO Day Aggregates, they provided the following statement:
We take our role as community stewards seriously and give swift, thorough attention to our neighbors’ concerns. Montgomery County and the State of Maryland set very strict regulations about blasting to ensure safety for neighbors and their property. Historically we have operated below state and county standards. We’re committed to regularly monitoring and reporting results in compliance with those requirements. We take this matter very seriously and will continue working directly with neighbors to address concerns brought to us.
We also want to thank our first responders for their hard work to extinguish the fire.
WUSA9 also reached out to the Maryland Department of The Environment. They provided the following statement:
The Maryland Department of the Environment’s Emergency Response Division works behind the scenes making sure that hazardous spills and incidents are contained to protect public safety and health. Yesterday they responded to the fire at the asphalt plant in Rockville. Since this fire was anything but "routine," it took a collaborative effort of responding agencies and plant personnel to form a plan on how to extinguish the fire and clean up any contaminants. Fortunately, because the oil and related products were contained within the tanks of origin and a secondary containment berm the impact to the environment was limited. When a fire of this type is ongoing we recommend that residents avoid the area if possible due to potential air quality concerns. Now that the fire is extinguished, we are following up to learn more about the incident, including potential causes, and the facility’s compliance under its permits.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation
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