Tuesday, March 3, 2015

OHIO EPA: CLEARCREEK TWP. CHEMICAL FIRE CLEANUP SIZE, COSTS INCREASING. HOMEOWNER WAS HOARDING CHEMICALS FOR MANY YEARS. MORE CHEMICAL CONTAINERS FOUND





MARCH 2, 2015

CLEARCREEK TOWNSHIP, OHIO

Work to clean up the site of a chemical fire in Clearcreek Township continues, and the cost is rising.

The fire at the Jacamar Court home on Feb. 4 damaged or destroyed dozens of containers of various chemicals.

The Environmental Protection Agency was called in to help with cleanup due to the chemicals involved, including anisole, ethyl 4-(dimethylamino) benzoate, benzopinacol, ethylenediamine, oxygen, mercury and acetylene.

Not all the containers have labels, the EPA said previously.

In a report released Monday, the EPA said even more chemical containers have been found on the property. More than 600 have been removed so far, the EPA said.

The estimated cleanup cost has nearly doubled from an original $125,000 estimate to $240,000, authorities said.

The costs are being borne by taxpayers after it was determined that the homeowner, Victor Dubel, could not pay for it, and his home's insurance company would not cover it.

//---------------------------------------//

SPRINGBORO, OHIO

Four agencies were at a dentist’s home in Springboro Friday, trying to figure out why he had dozens of containers of unknown chemicals inside his house.
The house on Jacamar Court burned down more than a week ago.

Crews haven't been able to get in to investigate because of dozens of containers of unknown chemicals the homeowner had inside. Investigators from Springboro, Warren County, Ohio and the Environmental Protection Agency are on scene, trying to determine what the chemicals were.

According to the County Auditor, the homeowner is Victor Dubel, a dentist with an office in Dayton.

Neighbors said Dubel kept to himself and described him as a recluse.
"I knew he was a dentist, and he had probably been doing some research work, but that's probably all I know," neighbor Vince Festa said.

Investigators said Dubel was also a hoarder, which forced firefighters to let the house burn.

"They discovered the person had excessive storage within his home, and it made it complicated. They weren't able to access many rooms to conduct fire operations," Clearcreek Township Fire Chief Bob Kidd said.
Officials said Dubel had about 50 containers of chemicals stored inside the home, among the items.

"What we're seeing right now is numerous containers, varying from quart jars to half gallon jars, of unknown chemicals," EPA On Scene Coordinator Steve Renninger said.

Renninger said chemicals spilled into the back yard pool, contaminating the water, and some of the run off went over an embankment and into a creek behind the home.

The EPA took the lead to remove the contaminated material.
"We have site contingency plans in place with response agencies, and air monitoring has been taking place. There is no impact to neighbors at this point from air issues. We'll continue to monitor that over the next couple of days," Renninger said.

Friday night, the property remained secured and will remain so for several weeks until the cleanup is complete.

Investigators said Dubel told them the chemicals were typically used in a dental lab, but they haven't been able to confirm that.
Dubel did not return calls for comment Friday.

Investigators said they don't know what caused the fire. No one was injured. They plan on updating neighbors of their findings at a meeting Tuesday night.