Bristol Borough Fire Companies worked into the wee hours of Wednesday morning to contain a hazardous materials spill from impacting the surrounding community.
Just after 8pm, firefighters were dispatched to assist Station 52 with fumes resulting from chemicals being poured into a dumpster in the parking lot, of the 600 block of Bristol Pike, the Dollar General Store officials said.
The dispatch also came after a series of photos of spilled and leaking chemicals onto the stores parking lot and out of its dumpster were posted on social media.
Credit: Bristol Fire Company-Station 51
Fire officials said as fire crews arrived on scene, it was determined a “…a large amount of household laundry detergent and cleaners, were emptied into a large dumpster, and the dumpster was actively leaking” from the dumpster.
Dow Chemical and the Bucks County Hazardous Materials Team were also added for additional equipment and technical guidance on the actions required to safely mitigate the incident. The PA Department of Environmental Protection and the EPA were also notified, said Borough Fire Chief Herb Slack.
Firefighters immediately began to contain and absorb the liquid leaking from the dumpster and prevent additional liquid from entering the storm sewer which terminates into Silver Lake. The chemicals had the potential to harm the aquatic wildlife in the lake. The Borough provided a dump truck with two tons of sand which was used to sand and further contain and absorb the spill, fire officials said.
A limited amount of product did get into the storm sewer prior to the arrival of the fire companies, but was contained close to the spill site and away from discharging into the lake. The total amount of liquid was estimated to be 150-200 gallons of household cleaning supplies including bleach, laundry soap, fabric softener and other undetermined household liquids, Slack said.
Slack did not hesitate to lay blame for the public hazard.
The spill occurred when Dollar Store employees emptied containers of household cleaning liquids into the dumpster which was not liquid tight. When advised they were responsible for the clean-up, they declined to take any action, he said.
Credit: Bristol Fire Company Station 51
“The Borough is expected to take the necessary legal action to recoup the cost and issue citations for any violations of local laws and ordinances. State or Federal enforcement actions related to the spill will be determined by the appropriate government agencies” the Fire Chief said.
Crews remained on scene until 845 am the following morning (Wednesday) and the scene was turned over to an Environmental Cleanup Company.
Submitted:
The post this story is partly based upon was pulled down and or deleted after community based digital publications began to request additional information about the hazard and cleanup.
Station 50 Fire Chief Steve Reeves declined to comment on why the post was removed from the fire companies page.
Slack also declined to comment on the pulled fire company post.
All four Bristol Borough Fire Companies responded to this incident and were assisted by, the Bucks County Hazardous Materials Team, Dow Chemical Emergency Response, Bucks County EMA, Bristol Borough EMA, Bristol Borough Public Works, PA DEP, Bucks County 9-1-1 Dispatch and the Bensalem Rescue Squad, said Borough fire officials.
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