A 2006 fire at a hazardous waste facility in North Carolina could end up having nationwide ramifications. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released a report that calls for new fire code standards and increased information provided to communities.

In a case study report on the October 2006 hazardous waste fire at the Environmental Quality Company (EQ) in Apex, North Carolina, CSB called for a new national fire code for hazardous waste facilities and for improving the information provided to community emergency planners about the chemicals those facilities store and handle.

According to CSB, when the fire occurred that night, the facility was not staffed or monitored and no EQ employees were present. Emergency responders did not have access to specific information on the hazardous chemicals stored at the site and ordered the precautionary evacuation of thousands of Apex residents. The evacuation order remained in place for 2 days, until the fire had subsided.

Hazardous waste facilities such as EQ are regulated under RCRA. The investigation noted that RCRA regulations require facilities to have "fire control equipment" but do not specify what equipment and systems should be in place. In addition, there is no national fire code to define good fire protection practices for hazardous waste facilities.

RCRA regulations also require operators to "familiarize" local responders in advance concerning facility hazards, but do not describe what specific information must be shared about stored chemicals, or define the frequency of communications. Similarly, EPA regulations under the 1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act do not require facilities to share information about hazardous wastes with local agencies, since those wastes are generally exempt from OSHA rules requiring preparation of material safety data sheets.

The CSB report recommends that EPA require that permitted hazardous waste facilities periodically provide specific, written information to state and local response officials on the type, approximate quantities, and location of hazardous materials.

The Board called on the Environmental Technology Council, a trade association representing about 80% of the U.S. hazardous waste industry, to develop standardized guidance on waste handling and storage to prevent releases and fires. The CSB also recommended that the Council petition the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) - an organization that authors national fire codes - to develop a specific fire protection standard for the hazardous waste industry. The new standard should address fire prevention, detection, control, and suppression. Similar NFPA standards already exist for other industries, such as wastewater treatment.