Few answers for an angry Apex

APEX -- The chemical fire that cleared out much of the town Oct. 5 was still generating noise and heat Tuesday night -- this time from more than 200 frustrated residents who wanted answers.

They packed the town hall for a council meeting, hoping to find out more about the safety of their garden-grown vegetables, the health of their children, the quality of their air and, ultimately, the future in Apex of the company whose warehouse of hazardous waste burned.

They didn't find out much.

EQ Industrial Services Co. isn't saying whether it will rebuild or leave town. In a letter delivered Tuesday to the mayor, EQ president David Lusk said that not until "the cleanup is complete" would the company "begin to assess" its options.

That was hardly enough to soothe restless town leaders and residents. Many want EQ to clean up the facility on Investment Boulevard and go.

At one point, EQ vice president Scott Maris' address to the council was interrupted by Apex resident Robert Evans, who wanted to know whether the air in his house on East Chatham Street was safe for his newborn son to breathe.

"I was in the emergency room three times!" he yelled, adding later that he had difficulty breathing after the fire.

Amid the hubbub, Town Council members said they would fight EQ if the company tried to rebuild on Investment Boulevard, although they didn't take any formal action Tuesday. They cited a change in the town's zoning law -- made since the warehouse was built -- that would make it illegal for EQ to rebuild its hazardous-waste way station at the old site.

That would not completely rule out EQ's remaining in Apex. Under North Carolina law, the company could appeal, and state regulators could overrule the town council.

Mayor Keith Weatherly said Tuesday that the town would do everything in its power to make EQ leave. "We cannot tolerate the continued operation" of a hazardous-waste storage facility in Apex, he said.

"Let me just say our concern -- and the point we will not forget -- is that EQ has exposed our citizens to an unprecedented level of danger," he added.

Weatherly did not mention, though, that many in town had pretty much forgotten about the dangerous materials inside the warehouse before the explosion. Local regulators say the facility was inconspicuous; many neighbors said they never knew it existed.

It opened in 1987 on Investment Boulevard, a dead-end street near an asphalt plant at the edge of town. Since then, it has been surrounded by hundreds of new homes, kids' gyms and a church.

Apex resident Wolf Wendlandt said the aftermath now goes beyond town limits. "We as the people of Apex are actually saying something not just to ourselves and the immediate community but to the whole state," Wendlandt said.

Some influential people are already listening. On Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Mike Easley created a task force that will look into tightening the regulations on hazardous-waste facilities so their neighbors will know more about them.

There are 10 other licensed hazardous waste storage facilities in the state, including one in Granville County that is down the street from a child-care center.

The fire has particularly raised parents' worries that toxic heavy metals were spewed across the town. While EQ and state regulators say air and water tests have not found dangerous pollutants, an independent test found mercury and nickel in the gymnastics center next door to the waste plant.

State regulators say they plan to conduct more tests on the ground and water in the coming days, and hope to release a report on the town's air quality later this week.

"How long is it going to take?" Tim Fornes, 31, asked with exasperation halfway through the meeting. "I don't know what effect that residual has on my 9-month-old, my 3-year-old."

Town officials couldn't do much more Tuesday night to provide answers. The town has hired a team of environmental consultants to help, and has set up a toll-free number to allow residents to ask questions.

As long as questions about the fire and its effects remain unanswered, people are going to avoid Apex, said Rich Ahmed, an owner of the Dream Sports Center, an indoor complex down the street from the EQ warehouse. He said last weekend was the worst ever for his business.

"I could possibly be crippled from this," he said. "If I go to sell that building tomorrow, I wouldn't get a nickel from it. If I had sold it a month ago, I would have gotten $4 million for it."