Frequently Asked Questions About Abington Fire Aftermath

JENKINTOWN, PA —Now that the SPS Technologies fire has been contained, questions have arisen regarding how it happened, what chemicals were on site, and what health and safety issues impact residents.

Borough officials have compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions to address some of the issues since the fire on Highland Avenue took place last Monday night.

The environmental contractor was in the borough addressing many locations for debris cleanup. The company has a large contingent of workers arriving to help expedite the process with increased staff and resources.

SPS has developed a website to address concerns and provide updates. Click here to visit that website.

These are the list of questions:

1. What caused the explosion?

The investigation is ongoing, and the ATF has their expert team from the region working with the Abington Township Fire Marshal to find evidence and make the determination as to why this incident occurred.

2. Which chemicals were actively in use at the time of the explosion?

The ATF, SPS, and the Abington Fire Marshal are working to determine which chemicals may have been involved at the time of the incident. They will publicize this information once it has been determined, and what caused the fire.

They will have the assistance of the DEP and EPA to help in identifying substances on the scene in the affected areas.

Any machines that are utilized in the manufacturing industry of these critical metal parts for the aeronautical industry have a significant amount of petroleum products used to keep the machines lubricated and functioning properly.

These petroleum products will be involved in any fire that occurs. It was determined already that a large quantity of their bulk storage of other chemicals was not impinged by the fire. They have successfully removed those chemicals from the property already.

3. How can the community organize to hire a firm independent from SPS, EPA, or DEP for in-home air quality testing? Can the Borough hire an independent contractor as well to do some testing?

It would be on the specific community members who may be interested in working together to pay for the in-home air quality testing. The DEP and EPA are the governing authorities who are extremely knowledgeable in the air quality monitoring and testing of water and soil within the area.

They are actively involved in holding SPS accountable to standards set by law to make sure our environment is safe.

Any mitigation efforts by SPS will be held to those high standards to prevent any further impacts to our community. Our interactions with the on-site representatives from both agencies have been nothing short of professional. They have been very assertive in making sure that SPS and their environmental contractors, demolition contractors, and other hired professional mitigation companies are held accountable to the standards set by law.

Jenkintown Borough is not in a financial situation where they would be able to afford to pay for any independent testing of the environment. This would be an extremely expensive undertaking.

Also, we would have to rely on contracted professionals to advise on what particular company to utilize for this testing which would be an added cost.

This is why the state government and federal governments have established the DEP and EPA to address these concerns. These agencies support local municipalities with response to these types of incidents by providing professional experts in various disciplines to make sure our communities are safe.

4. Why are we relying on a company hired by SPS to monitor the ongoing environmental testing and not an independent or government agency?

The independent companies hired by SPS for environmental cleanup and monitoring have the necessary resources and personnel to conduct this massive undertaking.

The DEP and EPA influence the contracts that are executed and will hold the contracted companies to the industry, national, and state standards set by law and past practice successful experiences. The DEP and EPA do not have the resources to have this continuous monitoring for an extended period. They are responsible for the initial response and then they transition to an oversight position and the cost of the monitoring is transferred to the company or responsible party where the incident occurred. It is a costly process and would overwhelm the respective agencies if they had to staff the monitoring and equipment for this type of event.

5. Why has the DEP not responded to a request for a full list of chemicals stored at the facility at the time of the fire?

The DEP is working with SPS to identify the answers to this question. The issue is that the records and storage location for this information were impacted by the fire. They are actively working to publish this information through the DEP website and SPS has acknowledged that they plan to publish information on their website www.SPSupdates.com once they can confirm the actual list at the time of the incident and all the necessary information regarding the list.

6. Many kids play in and around Tookany Creek including my children. When will information be released about the chemicals that were found in the creek?

We believe that the DEP has posted the testing results from the first tests taken in the creek on their website. They will be publishing further information about testing that will continue to occur as part of the monitoring process.

7. Has anyone made any statement about the ground? Should there be any concerns about roofs, balconies, etc.?

There are several factors to consider regarding the ground.

First, the air monitoring is a very good source for us to determine if there may be ground impacted by the fire. The fact that the ground has been affected by the frigid temperatures and high winds helps to prevent contamination.

Also, unless there is a specific spill of fluids or direct impact of a solid on a particular area of the ground, the contaminants from the air will have a limited impact on the soil and most of those contaminants will be captured in the air monitoring that is continuous at this point.

The debris that is being collected throughout our communities is being tested to identify any possible contaminants and specifically to address the community concern regarding asbestos. Thankfully, the testing so far has not had any presence of asbestos in the debris.

A rainfall will wash any possible standing soot or other microscopic contaminants if there are any to the storm sewers and waterways where there is testing occurs regularly. This process occurs regularly through the natural processes of weather and environmental change.

There are regular contaminants from fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, weed control chemicals, and other related substances that go unnoticed and do not impact the environment because of the natural process of the environment changes with the seasons and other related mechanisms. For hard surfaces like roofs and balconies, the amount of wind and cold temperatures have helped to mitigate these issues. In addition, the environmental contractor is addressing the cleanup of any structures that may have human contact as part of normal living within our communities, for example, playground equipment and public benches.

A normal cleaning solution of water and vinegar should clean any hard surface effectively to mitigate any possible contamination. In addition, SPS had a pre-existing mechanism and process for water treatment at the facility. This facility will help to prevent any further exposure to the waterways. Also, the DEP and EPA have incorporated a plan of retention and prevention of further releases of any contaminants into the water and the soil from the reclamation and demolition process at the incident site as they proceed into the future.

8. Once we have rain, what happens when debris is washed away? Are flat roofs more of a concern in this situation?

We are confident that the environmental contractors will be able to retrieve the debris promptly before we have to worry about the debris being washed away. As was mentioned in the answer above, the natural process of environmental change will help to mitigate the issues, but we will continue to monitor our waterways that are downstream from our community to make sure any contaminants are identified and addressed with SPS. Flat roofs do not change our assessment of how it could impact any particular structure. All flat roofs have typical engineering to allow for a flow of water off of the roof on time.

9. Should residents be changing their car air filters? Could we share some information with the community on things we should be doing to avoid any contamination?

All residents should be considering the normal good practice of regularly changing any air filters in their car, house HVAC, air conditioning units, air scrubbers, or any other device that is utilizing an exchange of outside or inside air to collect contaminants or prevent contaminants from entering a facility or vehicle.

Hand washing regularly and wiping down hard surfaces regularly with proven cleaners is always good practice to prevent exposure to any chemicals or contaminants. Consideration to have your chimneys cleaned as part of your normal maintenance for your property is also good practice.