Miller Chemical reimburses Adams County
Lillian Reed, The Evening Sun 11 a.m. EST December 31, 2015
(Photo: Clare Becker, The Evening Sun)
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Adams County billed Miller Chemical for $164,000 on behalf of emergency responders and hazmat crews.
The company's insurance paid the county $137,000, an amount that is being considered "payment in full."
County emergency services director John Eline said that an adjusted reimbursement is commonplace.
Miller Chemical has reimbursed Adams County for more than $137,000 in materials and services rendered following the June 8 chemical fire that caused $20 million in damages, an official confirmed Wednesday.
The county originally billed the company for approximately $164,000 on behalf of emergency companies and county hazmat crews that responded to the blaze, said John Eline, Adams County's emergency services director. More than 300 firefighters from more than 15 companies responded to the fire, which took more than 12 hours to extinguish.
Payments made for less than the original claim, such as Miller Chemical's, are commonplace, Eline said.
"We knew they would have adjusters go through and kick out adjusted claims and expenses," he said. "It's customary even in what we call small claims incidents, like a spill on the highway."
The county did not expect the full reimbursement and accepted this amount as "payment in full," Eline said. A breakdown of how the reimbursement will be distributed was not immediately available. However, Eline previously stated that $24,500 was requested on behalf of the county itself. The rest was on behalf of several local fire departments and hazmat units, he said in September.
Miller Chemical's insurance paid for the reimbursement, Miller Chemical representative Barb Klunk said in an email Wednesday.
The fire began in the early hours of June 8 and destroyed a large warehouse storing household fertilizers. The cause of the fire remains undetermined because of the extensive amount of damage to the property, Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal Bradley Dunham said in July.
Runoff from the firefighting effort leaked into local waterways, including the Conewago Creek, killing an estimated 10,000 fish, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission reported at the time.
The cleanup process for Miller Chemical involved removal of contaminated water, which was being stored at the site of the fire for weeks following the blaze, and stripping top soil surrounding the site.
Soil samples were taken recently from the site and are being analyzed, said John Repetz, a representative fro the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, in an email Thursday.
Based on recent results, stormwater monitoring has been discontinued and no surface water issues have been reported. Surface water monitoring will continue on a monthly basis, he said.
Miller Chemical is testing the soil and water as defined under the Act II process of the Pennsylvania DEP, Klunk confirmed in the email. The process will continue onsite and offsite until the DEP's requirements are satisfied, she said.
Klunk confirmed that the company is also in the process of rebuilding at the same site in Conewago Township.