"Water contamination linked to fire"

By Christopher Ruvo, Intelligencer, August 5, 2010:

DEP plans to test at least 30 wells near where an industrial building caught fire. Fighting the fire apparently caused water runoff that carried chemicals into homeowners' wells.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection tested water in more than 20 private wells in Plumstead on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of an intensifying investigation into groundwater contamination that is believed to be tied to runoff from a June 29 fire.

Residents believe water used to fight the June 29 fire and subsequent rains contributed to moving chemicals from the site and into their drinking supply. Officials had balked at drawing the connection between the fire fallout and the wells, but that changed Wednesday.

"It's pretty obvious what happened," said state Sen. Chuck McIlhinney, R-10. "There was a fire at the building. Chemicals got into the aquifer and the surrounding neighbors have well water and were affected.There's going to be a mediation process that needs to take place."

DEP plans to test at least 30 wells and could check more as officials work to map the plume of contamination that appears to have begun when the blaze destroyed an industrial building on the 5000 block of Stump Road. The building neighbors, or is near, residences whose wells are being tested, and contamination has been discovered more than half a mile from the fire site.

The testing includes wells that had already shown some contamination, but whose tests were done using filtered water, rather than raw water, said DEP spokeswoman Deborah Fries. Filtered water could have masked the true extent of the contamination.

With an increasing number of residents afraid to drink their water or wash with it, DEP is considering options for supplying folks with enough water to allow them to shower and do laundry at their homes as they await test results and a plan to remediate any pollution, said Fries.

By next week many well test results should be back and concerned residents can attend a meeting to learn more about the scope and degree of the contamination.

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Plumstead Municipal Building on Stump Road. DEP officials, McIlhinney, state Rep. Marguerite Quinn, R-143, and township officials are among the expected attendees.

"It's not anyone's fault, but the residents have been kind of left in the dark and this will be an informational meeting where everyone can get on the same page," said McIlhinney.

Tests of two ponds near the destroyed warehouse indicate the water has high concentrations of benzoic acid and benzene, said Fries. Dennis Rice, owner of the burned building, has been told to drain the ponds or install an onsite treatment system, she said.

Dangerously high levels of benzene, a potentially cancer-causing chemical found in fuels, have been detected in a resident's drinking water, too. Antimony, a metal used in fire retardants, was also found in the well.

As authorities work toward solutions, residents are worrying about the chemicals they might have already contacted or ingested.

"Obviously as a carcinogenic issue everybody around us is really concerned," said . . . [one resident], whose Ann Drive home neighbors the industrial facility. "There are a lot of kids around here. I'm pretty sure (the contamination) is all around us."

. . . [The resident] will have a doctor examine welts on his skin. He said the welts appeared after he showered in his home's water.

Fearing the water was contaminated, he stopped showering and has been taking sponge baths with distilled water.

Point Pleasant-Plumsteadville EMS, which is next door to the industrial complex, is concerned its water and soil might be contaminated, said Mike Tuttle, the squad's chief of operations.

"We're wondering what's in there," said Tuttle.

On Wednesday, Eastern Diversified Services of Souderton was cleaning residue from Point Pleasant-Plumsteadville's office building and the pole barn where the squad keeps ambulances and equipment, said Tuttle.

Fallout from the fire coated the buildings in the smelly residue, said Tuttle. The interior of the office building - which includes an apartment the squad rents out - is being cleaned as is an ambulance that was at the blaze.

"We're cleaning the ambulance as a precaution to make sure no one comes into contact with whatever might be on there," said Tuttle.

It took hundreds of firefighters and an estimated 3 million gallons worth of water to battle the fire that erupted at the industrial building June 29. The flames continued to ignite over the course of a week, drawing firefighters back to the scene.

The cause of the fire has been ruled undetermined, though there were indications it might have begun with an electrical issue.

In the days just after the fire, county health officials declared waterways and wells were not contaminated, but complaints from residents prompted testing that has grown into the larger-scale probe.