NEWBURGH — Less than a year before the Sept. 6 fire at a Newburgh electroplating plant would deposit caustic ash across swaths of southern Warrick County, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management accused the company of stockpiling highly combustible metals and potentially hazardous waste rather than disposing of the materials.

And just two months before a previous fire would break out at the PBTT Corp. facility in December, IDEM officials cited the the company for lacking a dedicated emergency response coordinator and for failing to document emergency response arrangements with local police, fire and hospitals as required of facilities that generate hazardous waste.

It wasn't the first time: Three years earlier, in 2022, IDEM cited PBTT Corp. for failing to designate an emergen

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