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DEP describes air and water monitoring after SPS Technologies fire; committee seeks continued updates
Summary
Acting DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley told the committee DEP and EPA rapidly deployed air monitors and tested nearby streams for VOCs and cyanide after a large fire at SPS Technologies in Abington Township; DEP reported benzene detected in a local creek but said concentrations dissipated before reaching the Delaware River and that there was no threat to drinking water.
Acting DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley described the department's response to a large fire at SPS Technologies in Abington Township, Montgomery County, and briefed the committee on ongoing monitoring.
Shirley said local emergency management were first responders and called DEP; DEP arrived as soon as possible and focused on preventing runoff and chemical releases from reaching waterways and on air-quality monitoring. The department requested and deployed EPA air monitors, tested Tucanee Creek and the confluence with the Delaware River for volatile organic compounds and cyanide, and coordinated drinking-water monitoring with Philadelphia Water. Shirley said DEP observed benzene in Tucanee Creek but that levels had essentially dissipated by the time the contaminant would have reached the Delaware and that there was no threat to drinking-water supplies: the nearest drinking-water intake is upstream from the confluence.
Shirley told the committee DEP will continue creek monitoring until it confirms there are no impacts and noted DEP conducts routine inspections of SPS under multiple permits; the department identified administrative failures to pay permit fees in past inspections but did not report active clean-water or air-quality violations that caused the incident. Committee members thanked DEP for rapid response and requested follow-up on monitoring timeframes and any continuing impacts.
