A fire at the Bennett Industrial Landfill in Chester County, S.C., ignited last November, is still raging, exposing people to asbestos and harmful levels of formaldehyde and benzene.

Last November, firefighters were called to the Bennett Landfill, a dump for hazardous construction materials, including asbestos. Owner Ronald Ray Olson closed the site in 2014 after South Carolina authorities sanctioned him for several infractions, including improper disposal of materials containing asbestos. After the fire ran out of control, he was charged with criminal violations of South Carolina’s solid waste management law for failing to set aside money for environmental cleanup.

Emergency Management Director Eddie Murphy told The Herald newspaper of Rock Hill, S.C., that the landfill has been burning for an undetermined amount of time, anywhere from a few weeks to years. Underground tunnels beneath the debris complicated the situation. By early December, local firefighters said they could not do anything further to extinguish the fire, which flared up again in January of this year.

Today, the site smokes, and haze and foul odor plague the community. Local businesses have suffered. Many fear that water sprayed by firefighters may have contaminated well water and nearby rivers. Residents complain of respiratory difficulties, asthma, migraines, dizziness and nosebleeds. State health officials have encouraged residents to stay indoors. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been issuing daily smoke forecasts for the area. Local schools have advised parents they can transfer their children to schools distant from the landfill.

Last month, during a town hall meeting in Lockhart, S.C., EPA officials notified residents that air pollution from the fire surpassed levels necessary to trigger federal emergency funding under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, commonly known as Superfund. EPA officials have launched a cleanup operation that is projected to take at least three months and will cost taxpayers $1 million or more.

The EPA’s belated action is little comfort to people who have been breathing carcinogenic benzene and formaldehyde for months and who may have been exposed to deadly asbestos.

Prolonged exposure to benzene and formaldehyde can result in dizziness, headaches, confusion, respiratory problems, cancer, and, in some cases, death. Asbestos can cause asbestosis, a chronic lung disease, mesothelioma, a cancer that attacks the body’s organ linings, and other forms of cancer.

Until asbestos and other harmful substances are banned for good, communities across the nation could face the same public health risks that residents of Chester County now know all too well.