Richmond's gross barrel-dumping mystery is solved
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Some of the barrels from 2023. Photo: Ned Oliver/Axios
The mystery of the gross, oozing barrels illegally dumped around the Richmond region in 2023 has been solved.
Why it matters: Richmond can't be vigilant about future mass gross barrel-dumping if we don't know how the last one happened.
Catch up quick: In May 2023, local authorities discovered dozens of 55-gallon barrels excreting red, oozing waste dumped across Richmond and Henrico.
- The discharge looked like "death in a barrel," Axios reported from the scene, but was likely "pharmaceutical/cosmetology products," according to a preliminary Virginia Department of Environmental Quality report.
Yes, but: It didn't smell. So that's something?
The latest: The sludge dribbling into RVA soil was, in fact, cosmetic and hair product ingredients from an unnamed hair care company in North Carolina, The Richmonder's Sarah Vogelsong reports.
- It ended up in Richmond after Glen Allen resident Roscoe Morton — whom investigators called the operation's "ringleader" — was subcontracted to dispose of the goo-filled barrels, per the outlet and court filings reviewed by Axios.
Zoom in: It's unclear who hired Morton, but he recruited others to rent U-Hauls in Henrico, pick up barrels in North Carolina, and haul them back to RVA, Vogelsong reports.
- Local landfills, including embattled Chesterfield dump Shoosmith Landfill, refused to accept the barrels because they contained hazardous materials.
- So the group instead dumped them at several locations around the region, largely by just shoving them out of trucks and therefore spilling the disgusting contents, per Vogelsong.
The intrigue: Morton and two other local men were charged with conspiring to dispose of hazardous waste, even though they weren't the ones driving the trucks, Vogelsong reports.
- Morton and another man pleaded guilty this year. The third failed to appear in court.
- The two men who pleaded guilty were ordered to pay more than $100,000 in restitution. Morton also faces two years in prison.
Read the full story on The Richmonder.