A ‘milky white’ substance was leaking into a Chester County creek, and a business could face fines
There have been reports of fish kills and "noticeable pollution" of the stream, officials said.
A business that operates an industrial site in West Goshen Township that leaked hazardous discharge into a nearby creek could face fines, municipal officials said this week.
Several people spotted a “milky white” substance in Goose Creek, near Nields Street in West Chester, on Saturday. The borough received reports of it around 12:20 p.m., according to a news release from the borough on Monday.
The “illicit discharge” stemmed from a pipe at Atmos Technologies, at 216 Garfield Ave. in West Goshen Township, near Henderson High School. The leak was plugged within roughly an hour after reports were initially made, officials said.
It is not known how long the pipe had been leaking before residents reported it.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is investigating the spill to find out how much of it spread into the creek and what remediation efforts are needed to protect the public, officials said.
Atmos Technologies told DEP that chlorinated water was released to a containment area, Robyn Briggs, a DEP spokesperson, said in an email Tuesday. It mixed with a manufactured product known as “Long Duration Foam AC-645,” forming a foaming agent.
DEP alerted Aqua Pennsylvania, a public water provider that serves portions of Chester County. It continues to monitor the downstream flow, but said in a post online that residents’ drinking water was not affected.
People had reported fish kills — mass deaths of fish, usually prompted by environmental stress or pollution — and “noticeable pollution” of the creek over the weekend, but Briggs said no further fish kills had been reported since and the creek appeared clear, with some foaming, on Sunday and Monday.
Officials advised people and their pets to stay out of the creek, a West Goshen Township news release said Monday.