Gasoline-tainted groundwater was cited as the cause of a powerful odor that prompted a voluntary evacuation of about 150 homes in a Philadelphia-area community early Sunday evening, authorities said Monday. The problem was identified after firefighters and environmental officials used sensors Sunday night.
After a resident complained of a strong odor in the Skippack Township neighborhood at about 5:45 p.m. Sunday, firefighters began evacuating homes, the Associated Press reported. More houses were later found to have levels of the organic compound as well when the township fire company responded with testing meters that "went into alarm" in their basements.
The noxious odor primarily affected three townhouses in Skippack after contaminated water got into the sump pumps, the Associated Press reported. Firefighters were flushing those pumps with fresh water and airing out the homes with fans on Monday evening. "We're relieved and hopeful that what they're doing will fix it," said resident Kourtnay Loughin, who called 911 about the "very, very unpleasant" smell on Sunday evening.
The substance was found in a system with sealed pipes, creating little chance of contamination to the surrounding area's water supply, Fire Chief Haydn Marriott said, adding that none of the residents' health was in danger. However, officials could not confirm how the gas had made its way into the groundwater.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, volatile organic compounds cover a wide range of gases that can come from thousands of products, such as paints and lacquers, paint strippers, cleaning supplies, pesticides and permanent markers, CNN reported. They can find their way into ground water from spills or leaking storage tanks or in stormwater runoff from roads and parking lots.
Meanwhile, Marriott had originally told WPVI-TV in Philadelphia that although crews testing the homes had gotten high readings of a poisonous gas called hydrogen cyanide, a bi-product of fires that can be deadly in high concentrations, those readings turned out to be false positives.
By Monday morning, Marriott said authorities had determined sump pumps as the source of the smell, but could not identify its composition. As labs began analyzing samples, officials retested some houses and allowed owners to return from emergency shelters after finding no danger.
Marriott said his department spoke to the water authority several times Sunday. "They assured us that there was no problem with the water, that they were going to take care of the testing on their end," he said.
Officials plan to monitor the affected homes in the coming days, the AP reported.
