Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 10, 1991 TAG: 9104100375
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN and GEORGE KEGLEY/ STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Randy Leach, the county's chief assistant commonwealth's attorney, said he decided not to prosecute Aerospace Research Corp. after meeting with state police Monday.
"It does not look like we are going to charge anybody," he said.
State police, Roanoke County fire marshals and representatives of the state Department of Emergency Services searched the company's premises in late February. A search-warrant affidavit said an informant had told authorities that a strongly scented hazardous material was being burned or dumped on the ground and in a well at the plant, which is on Windy Gap Mountain.
An inquiry by the state Department of Waste Management reached the following conclusions in a March 29 letter:
Aerospace Research Corp. and its owner, Joseph T. Hamrick, were storing 10 drums of anhydrous hydrazine, a rocket fuel, at the site in a manner that created a severe hazard to public health, safety, natural resources and the environment.
But although anhydrous hydrazine stored in that manner poses severe hazards, it was not considered a hazardous waste as defined in the state code. The chemical was considered a raw material not subject to department regulations.
That letter superseded a March 1 emergency order, in which the department told the company to remove the 540-pound drums from a wooded ravine. Some were upright, some were lying on their sides and none was on pallets or pads. They were partially covered with vines, the order said.
The order said anhydrous hydrazine can be ignited and poses a severe explosion hazard when exposed to heat or oxidizers. It is toxic if ingested or absorbed by the skin or if the fumes are inhaled.
The drums were within 75 feet of a road leading to a proposed subdivision and within about a quarter-mile of a residence and several businesses, the order said.
Leach said Roanoke County fire officials were working with the company to make sure the chemicals were properly stored.
The state Department of Waste Management has "folded up completely," Hamrick said. "They went back to Richmond and said they had no case."
Hamrick said he had been confident that the probe would find no criminal wrongdoing. He had said earlier that the state police informant was a disgruntled former employee.
Hamrick said the chemicals had been stored about 15 years ago by his late partner, Carl Rose. The company has used some of the fuel for testing small rockets, but it has not used any lately.
Hamrick said the 4,000 pounds of fuel stored in the barrels is worth about $132,000, or $33 a pound. Hamrick said only one of the 10 drums had been opened.
At the time it was stored, Hamrick said, there were no regulations. "Now they say you must report over 1,000 pounds, and we've done that."
by CNB