"Well testing continues"

By Christopher Ruvo, Intelligencer, August 1, 2010:

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has sampled well water that served a Plumstead industrial building ruined by fire as part of a widening investigation into water contamination in the township.

Samples were also taken from nearby ponds during the Friday visit from DEP, which will test the water in its Harrisburg laboratories, said spokeswoman Deborah Fries.

At least four Plumstead homes have tainted water in their private wells and additional residents are reporting possible contamination.


"My water smells like garbage," . . . a Plumstead resident, said Saturday.

Officials say it's too soon to say what caused the infiltration, but residents suspect water carried pollutants from the warehouse site during and then after the June 29 fire that destroyed the building.

. . . [One resident], whose Ann Drive home is near the ruined warehouse on the 5000 block of Stump Road, said his water turned foul shortly after the blaze.

"I've been getting some welts on my skin after showering," said . . . [the resident, who] said his water has not yet been tested. Tests have shown that his neighbor . . . has benzene, antimony, E. coli and total coliform in his well water.

Benzene, found in oil and gas, can cause cancer. Antimony oxide is added to textiles and plastics to make them fire resistant.

. . . [The resident] is concerned about what is flowing from his taps.

"I would just like the water to be made proper again," he said.

Testing on Plumstead wells that are known to have at least some pollutants has not concluded, Fries said. DEP plans to test more wells in the area.

"We want to delineate the plume of contamination that may exist in the groundwater and you do that by sampling in a widening radius until you find private wells that are not impacted," Fries said in a Thursday interview.

The fire that erupted June 29 at the industrial building drew hundreds of firefighters from throughout the region.

Plumsteadville Fire Chief Brian DuBree estimated that 3 million gallons of water were used to fight the fire, which continued to reignite over the course of a week, keeping the volunteer firefighters busy.

The Bucks County Fire Marshal's office said the cause of the fire could not be determined because the damage to the building was too extensive, but there were indications that the blaze sparked as a result of an electrical problem.