After Chemical Spill, Philly Residents Have Concerns About Water Safety
Do you support Philadelphia officials telling residents that the water is safe to use and drink?
What’s the story?
- Over 8,000 gallons of hazardous materials spilled into the drinking supply in the Philadelphia area on Friday, causing millions of residents to panic.
- A chemical plant in Bristol, PA, accidentally dumped water-based latex finishing solution into a creek connected to the Delaware River, which provides water to over 17 million people, including 1.5 million Philadelphia residents.
- Late Friday, the Philadelphia Water Department was monitoring the spill. The city recommended that residents use bottled water, which it later rescinded, saying the tap water would be safe to drink and for use until at least 11:59 pm on Wednesday.
- Nevertheless, many residents are erring on the side of caution and relying on bottled water. By Monday night, shelves of bottled water were emptied out at most local grocery stores.
What are city officials saying?
- Mike Carroll, deputy managing director of the City’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability, said the water is safe to drink, cook with, brush your teeth with, and bathe in.
- Mayor Jim Kenney, who was criticized for being absent from the public eye at the beginning of the week, said:
“We can all confidently say the threat has passed. I repeat, all the city’s drinking water is safe to drink.”
- While speaking to the public Tuesday evening, Kenney even drank a glass of water himself. He continued talking about the city’s decision to warn people not to use the tap water on Sunday.
“When we weren’t sure, we had to give people some advisory, so people would be safe. If we had held on to the information, you would be asking me why we didn’t say anything. The guidance was a suggestion if you feel more comfortable, buy…get a bottled water. I don’t think this is rocket science here.”
- The Water Department said it’s testing water in the Delaware River “around the clock.” Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole said contamination levels are minimal and health risks are low as the water travels and dilutes.
Are residents concerned?
- Many residents are still concerned about the safety of their tap water. Resident Gerald Brown told CNN that he would continue to buy bottled water as a precaution. He said:
“You just can’t take any chances nowadays. You just gotta take care of your family. You gotta be sure.”
- Resident Joe Sole is extra cautious after the incident in East Palestine. He told CNN:
“We’re afraid to drink the regular water. I don’t trust the city…They sound like they don’t really know what they’re talking about. They don’t sound confident in what they’re telling us.”
- Michelle Gannon, a biogeochemistry professor at Drexel University, warned that the impacts of chemical contamination might not be evident for up to 15 days.
“I really want to harp on the fact that we need to have consistent environmental monitoring because we won’t be able to tell if there was some kind of impact from a spill or something else like this without knowing what the baseline was.”
Do you support Philadelphia officials telling residents that the water is safe to use and drink?
-Jamie Epstein
(Photo credit: iStock/Wirestock)
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I personnaly want the politicians to say that they feel the water is safe to drink, but caution should be exercised until the professionals can fully assess and certify that there are no known hazards.
Often statements are made to calm the public without the facts needed to back up the claims being made. It has happened in long contaminated water for 'less desirable' communities as a money saving tactic,
I think the experts who have studied the water should have the final say on whether the water is safe to drink or not, and consumer beware.
We know what happened in Flint and East Palestine and northern Minnesota. If you trust the authorities, drink the water. If you don't, then do what you need to do to protect your family.
It's clear we need better guidelines and procedures for protecting, treating, and testing our water supply in this country.
ONLY if all the testing is complete!
Residents should be told not to drink the water till the investigations are complete, and the company minimally should be required to provide those effected with drinking water.
This company has a history of problems and thus far corrective action has consisted of remediation only no preventive maintenance to avoid machinery & pipe failures.
Bristol-based, Trinseo Altuglas Facility, a specialty chemical maker stopped production at on Friday (3-24) after 8,000+ gallons of latex emulsion leaked from the plant due to an equipment failure where it entered the storm drain where it flowed to Otter Creek and then to the Delaware River. The company has a long history of accidents has and been subject to frequent monitoring by government regulators including 4 recent contamination incidents ( the US Coast Guard detected 2 releases of acrylates from the Bristol facility into the Delaware, the EPA had separately detected 2 other acrylate releases).
The company is cooperating with the US Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Philadelphia Water Department, and local authorities to determine potential impact and remediation.
The Philadelphia Water Department felt confident that tap water from the Baxter drinking water treatment plant, fed by Delaware River was safe to drink at least till Monday night, but the department said the spill could potentially affect the water treated at Baxter. The city's other two treatment plants are unaffected as they draw water from the Schuylkill River.
“David Salas-de la Cruz, a Rutgers University associate professor of chemistry, worked at the Bristol plant during its Rohm and Haas days. He said the number of incidents over the past decade was unusual.”
History
2010, EPA investigated plant’s release of 1,760 pounds of methyl methacrylate during transfer to a storage tank, and reported the incident led to “the excavation and disposal of the contaminated soil.”
2012-2013 EPA documented another release, this time of butyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate, that required remediation between 2012 and 2013.
2014, the Coast Guard reported the plant spilled 300 gallons of ethyl acrylate, resulting in a facility evacuation, a shelter-in-place order for a local school, removal of soil and asphalt contaminated by the chemicals.
2020, EPA corrective action plan for a 60-acre area encompassing the facility and surrounding land used for chemical or wastewater processing for over a century. The agency found that the groundwater throughout the area was “contaminated with a variety of organic and inorganic chemicals.”
2021, the Coast Guard identified an Arkema pipeline at the facility as the source of another leak involving an unknown quantity of methyl methacrylate.
https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/trinseo-resume-part-operations-pennsylvania-plant-after-chemical-spill-2023-03-27/
https://www.inquirer.com/news/trinseo-chemical-spill-delaware-river-bristol-township-20230327.html?outputType=amp
I don't really support or disapprove of it. If the water is safe to drink, then I support it. If they're lying, then I don't support it.
Either way, I hope it was Tookany Creek, where we used to play when I was a kid. I remember fondly how we'd skip rocks and debate whether the water needed more latex finishing solution in it....
Historically speaking, I can't recall when that ever ended well. You try it first.
I'm sure...lets see them ( the govenor , and other state officials ) drink a big glass straight from the tap...won't happen.
Remember Flint ? there water is still poison, and was due to the pipes.
this is the source itself. who actually believes its clean that fast? or will ever be again?
Public officials always want to maintain the status quo. Get an independent group to test the water.
My actual answer is "Yes and No." The state toxicologists must not "sugar-coat" or over-simplify their answers.
First, on e of things I learned in medical school is literally EVERYTHING is toxic!
It all depends on dose--how much, how frequantly and how much.
The simplest way to divide a toxic exposure is by Acute Exposures vs. Chronic Exposures.
Acute Exposures require higher doses to be dangerous.
Chronic Exposures can be much smaller because they accumulate in the body over a longer term...
Not since the Flint fiasco.
The greedy corporations and the billionaires behind them must be punished and stomped on until they pose no more threat to the public. Those billionaires and their whole families must be stripped of possessions until they are poor and imprisoned and their money has been spent cleaning up their mess.
The people that I know that have lived there have never dared to drink any of the water. Everyone knows that it is full of chemicals. Bottled water is always on hand if you are thristy.
I do not trust any officlas regarding the safety of water or air after what happened in Palestine , Ohio. Not anymore!
Let them stand up & drink a glass of it in front of the people, and THEN maybe they'll believe it.
Enough lies. They are unacceptable. Stop killing people while your pockets are being stuffed.
An ordinary resident is not qualified to determine water safety. An ordinary politician is not qualified to determine water safety. So why is this up for a poll? Water experts ARE qualified. That's who should be deciding this.
Prove it!
If it's true...!
No