Thursday, June 11, 2015

Thousands of Adams County residents on Tuesday remained under mandatory water restrictions one day after a fire destroyed a fertilizer plant and led to the contamination of one of the main water sources in the region.




 The fire that on Monday destroyed the Millers Chemical and Fertilizer plant in Adams County remains under investigation. Officials on Monday lifted the shelter-in-place advisory; water restrictions remain in place.Ivey DeJesus/PennLive



JUNE 10, 2015

NEW OXFORD, PA

Approximately 4,500 New Oxford residents continued to get their water from York County after public safety officials detected contaminants in the south branch of the Conewago Creek in the aftermath of the Monday fire that destroyed the Miller Chemical and Fertilizer Corp., in Conewago Township just outside Hanover.

Officials are closely monitoring another tributary after they found traces of herbicides, pesticides and other substances consistent with possible contamination.

Officials shut down the main intake for water for New Oxford early on Monday in advance of a possible contamination from the runoff of the water used to battle the blaze.

John Repetz, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, explained that as a result, water samples showed no negative impact to the water supply for the borough.

The contamination continued to work its way through the creek on Tuesday, however, but the intake remained shut down. Residents do not have access to that water.

"There is no contamination getting into the water system," Repetz said.
The New Oxford Municipal Water Authority, he said, had water in storage, and on Monday began augment that supply with water from the York Water Authority.




Emergency officials Monday evening lifted the shelter-in-place restrictions that had been in place throughout the day as fire fighters and emergency responders battled the blaze at the fertilizer plant. The fire, which broke out sometime around 3:30 a.m. on Monday with a series of explosions, continued under investigation.

Hazmat officials on Monday found no toxins in the air, only nuisance levels of particulates and irritants. Repetz said there were no air quality issues present on Tuesday.

Officials also continued to monitor water from Slagels Run, a tributary of the Conewago Creek. Samples from Slagels Run, Repetz said, showed the presence of substances "consistent with what might be expected in an incident like we had yesterday, a major fire at a company that deals with fertilizer."

"We are seeing nutrients in the water -  herbicides and pesticides, that are consistent with this type of incident," Repetz said.

He said officials would release final results to the public once the report was completed.

Slagels Run feeds into the south branch of the Conewago Creek; New Oxford is downstream from that point.

Hanover, which is in York County and borders the location of the fertilizer plant, draws its water from Kitzmiller Dam and is not affected by the water contamination.

"Hanover is able to draw (water) normally," Repetz said.

He said supplying a safe water systems to residents in the area continued to be the agency's top priority.

He said Monday's severe storms potentially helped matters as the rain water diluted the contaminants in the creek.

"It was potentially a good thing," he said.

Repetz could not give a timeline as to when residents of the borough would return to getting water from their main water source.

He reiterated that the public water in this part of Adams County was safe.

"There's nothing wrong with the water coming from the tap," he said.

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BLAZE DESTROYS YORK COUNTY, PA FERTILIZER PLANT; NO TOXINS IN AIR

Emergency officials from Adams and York counties on Monday morning continued to urge residents and workers to remain indoors as they continued to battle a blaze that destroyed a residential fertilizer plant in Conewago Township, just outside Hanover.

The fire at Miller Chemical and Fertilizer Corp., on Radio Road, broke out just before 3:30 a.m. and continued to smoulder and spew black smoke by midmorning. Gusty winds at times spread the black smoke across this largely rural area. The smoke could be seen from miles away.

John Eline, Adams Co. Director of Emergency Services, said officials continued to monitor the air, but that no toxins had been detected. 

In a mid-morning press conference, Eline said firefighters had stopped using water to douse the fire, concerned with the volume of water used earlier on. He said emergency officials had built a dam to contain the water runoff from the operation. He said officials had some concerns that the water could be toxic and they wanted to protect public water.

Eline said, that despite the heavy black smoke that continued to smoulder from the collapsed building, the air contained irritants but nothing toxic that had been detected. 

He asked residents and local business workers - especially anyone with chronic lung conditions - to stay indoors.

Officials say the fire began shortly before 3:30 a.m. with a large explosion - followed by several subsequent explosions. Fire officials responded to an automatic fire alarm.

Fire Chief Tom Lawrence said no one was in the building at the time. No injuries had been reported.
 Source:http://www.pennlive.com