Cleaning up the old Barwick Mills plant that erupted in flames in downtown LaFayette, Ga., on Nov. 14 is expected to take at least six to nine months and could get trickier if asbestos is discovered on the site, still soaked by the water used to fight the fire.
A 181-page report released Thursday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency summarized the initial environmental effects of the fire, as focus turns to what is likely to be a grueling and tedious cleanup process.
“There are a lot of questions to answer,” LaFayette City Manager David Hamilton said, adding that six to nine months is a reasonable but aggressive goal. “There is a tremendous amount that has got to be done.”
A fire, its cause still unknown, started in the southern portion of the 250,000-square-foot building on the afternoon of Nov. 14 and smoldered for days until rain finally helped extinguish the final remnants on Nov. 18.
Firefighters poured up to 5,000 gallons per hour onto the blaze, and the runoff turned the nearby Chattooga River a filmy blue color.