Some Philadelphia residents are concerned about potential of contaminated water
Water in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Baxter Water Treatment Plant, Flares spilled out of a Trinseo PLC plant with acrylic resins
City officials told reporters they will continue to track the spill closely. They made it clear that the public would be notified immediately if the water quality sampling shows a potential impact on the river water entering the plant.
Some residents have expressed confusion after city officials sent an initial mobile phone alert recommending that people use bottled water beginning at 2 p.m. Sunday, only to say later that afternoon that water from the Baxter plant was safe to use until at least Monday night.
“Right now, I feel like it’s like a race. First come, first serve,” resident Karina Medina told CNN affiliate KYW-TV. I am on my mission for water and it is sad, everyone needs the water.
Resident Gerald Brown told CNN he’s still buying water from the store as a precaution, saying, “You just can’t take any chances nowadays. You have to take care of your family. You have to be sure.
An estimated 8,100 gallons of the chemical solution was released into the Delaware River late Friday night just a few miles upstream of a key water intake for Philadelphia’s Baxter Water Treatment Plant. The spill was the result of an “equipment failure” at a Trinseo PLC plant that makes acrylic resins, the owner said.
The train carrying hazardous material in East Palestine, Ohio leaked at least one of the harmful chemicals butyl acrylate.
Environmental Issues at the Philadelphia Water Treatment Plant in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania, During the Decline of the Delaware River Spill
The experience of some East Palestine residents who have reported health issues due to the spill has made Sole more cautious of relying on official statements.
Some residents of Philidelphia don’t get water from the plant. The city’s two other treatment facilities are fed by the Schuylkill River, which the city says was not impacted by the spill.
After updating the guidance Sunday, officials said the first advisory was sent out of an abundance of caution. But some residents felt that the quickly-changing information eroded their confidence in Philadelphia officials’ handling of the incident.
Sole said that they sound like they don’t know what they’re talking about. “They don’t sound confident in what they’re telling us.”
Everything that we have done to communicate with the public has been done in a way that is transparent and safe for our people.
There is concern among the public that chemical releases into our waterways can pose a risk to our health and safety.
The agency did not see any visible signs of the leaked product, which officials have described as a white plume, while conducting patrols along the Delaware River Sunday, the Coast Guard said.
“Because the material is highly water soluble, and the release coincided with a period of rainfall, the material dissipated quickly in the water,” the company said in a release.
Impacts of the Delaware River spill on public opinion of Philadelphia, the city’s water department, and how some Philadelphians might pronounce the word wooder
• Methyl methacrylate, sometimes called MMA, is a colorless liquid with a fruity odor often used in the production of acrylic plastics and resins. MMA can cause skin inflammation and irritation to the eyes, skin, nose and throat. The MMA is often used in dental applications.
The facility, which halted its operations following the spill, plans to partially resume production “within the next several days” before returning to full production soon after, the release said.
During a news conference Monday afternoon, Michael Carroll — the city’s deputy managing director for transportation, infrastructure and sustainability — told reporters that the city’s water quality is continuously being tested around the clock.
The city’s water department has analyzed a variety of samples from the river and raw water basin.
In Philadelphia, a map released by the city shows that more than half the 1.5 million people in the city may be impacted.
On the other side of the Delaware River, the utility New Jersey American Water said the chemical spill hadn’t impacted the drinking water dispensed to three New Jersey counties by its treatment plant for the river.
Some Philadelphians criticized the mixed messaging from public officials on Sunday, while others found humor in the situation, poking fun at how some Philly natives pronounce the word water — wooder.
