SPS Technologies continues to monitor air, water in Jenkintown and says no health risks found

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More than a month after a four-alarm fire engulfed the SPS Technologies aerospace manufacturing facility in Jenkintown, the company continues to monitor the air and creeks nearby — and says it has found no threats to public health.

“Currently there are no constituents of concern from the fire downstream from the SPS facility in concentrations that would pose a threat to human health or aquatic life,” David Dugan, a spokesperson for SPS Technologies’ parent company Precision Castparts Corp., wrote in an email. “However, we cannot attest to the quality of the water before the fire or with regard to potential contaminants unrelated to the fire.”

The company wrote in a statement posted to a website it created to communicate updates about the incident that it will continue testing air and water for “the foreseeable future.”

“SPS remains committed to the safety and well-being of our community following the recent fire,” the website says.  

The dayslong fire sent plumes of black smoke into the air and caused families nearby to evacuate their homes and shelter in place. Neighbors described smelling a chemical-like odor inside their homes and finding debris littering their yards. Some worried about long-term health impacts.

Drinking water was not impacted by the incident, and state environmental officials have said no chemicals of concern were detected in the air outside of the facility.

Cyanide levels in the creek have declined

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection found cyanide in the Tookany Creek while the fire was still smouldering. The agency posted results online showing cyanide levels declining sharply between Feb. 18 and 19 downstream of SPS and at the Greenwood Avenue bridge, but still detectable on the 19th. DEP spokesperson Stephanie Berardi said the agency re-sampled the creek on Feb. 19 and found cyanide levels had decreased to undetectable levels, but did not provide test results.

Cyanide salts were among the raw materials used in SPS Technologies’ manufacturing process that were on site during the fire, according to a report on the impacts of the fire by a consultant SPS hired, TRC Environmental Corporation.

DEP officials observed a “small” fish kill in the Tookany Creek, which Berardi said was likely due to a large volume of chlorinated water used in the firefighting response entering the waterway.

SPS, through contractor TRC Environmental Corporation, also detected cyanide at locations in the Tookany Creeks in the weeks following the fire — including at levels that exceeded the state’s water quality criteria, the company said. But cyanide levels declined to below the lab’s detection limit for nearly all samples as of March 16.

“It looks like things have settled down on the creek since the event occurred,” said Gerald Kauffman, director of the University of Delaware’s Water Resources Center, after reviewing SPS Technologies’ latest water test results. “The results came up clean.”

Air monitoring continues

SPS also continues to monitor the air around the perimeter site and at nine locations in the community nearby, for pollutants including particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide. The cyanide salts at the facility had the potential to be released as the highly toxic hydrogen cyanide in the event of a fire, according to TRC’s report.

“TRC has concluded that based on the available data, there are no human health risks associated with the levels of chemicals or other parameters released into the air surrounding the facility during the fire or afterward,” SPS Technologies wrote on its website.

DEP has not responded to a request for a full list of chemicals stored at the facility at the time of the fire, but Environmental Protection Agency records indicate the facility has handled several chemicals that can cause health problems at high levels of exposure in recent years. Local officials said most of the chemicals onsite at the time of the fire were stored in a building that did not burn.

More than a month after the fire, any air pollutants from it would have dissipated, said Ezra Wood, a chemistry professor who studies air pollution at Drexel University. He said the most important time to monitor air quality would have been at the fire’s peak. EPA’s air monitoring began the day after the fire started. The agency said it did not detect any breathable dust or chemicals “at levels of concern.”

“The biggest impacts in the community would have likely been the day [the fire] was raging,” he said.

Wood said the air monitoring done by SPS Technologies’ contractor is limited and not specific enough to identify individual volatile organic compounds or sensitive enough to pick up all but highly abnormal levels of hydrogen cyanide. But he agrees the company’s air monitoring does not show any health risks remaining from the fire.

Dugan said the detection limit is “adequate for addressing acute public health risks.”

No health risk from dust and debris, company says

Residents living near SPS Technologies reported debris from the fire falling on their properties, and some worried it could contain asbestos. The company tested this debris and said it primarily consisted of roofing from the facility. According to an analysis report by TRC Environmental Corporation, 14 of 15 debris samples showed no detectable asbestos fibers and the last sample contained less than 1% asbestos, which is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration definition for asbestos-containing material.

The company also tested dust wipe samples of soot from the fire at a handful of locations downwind in the community for compounds including cyanide, arsenic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Results did not indicate any human health risks, according to TRC Environmental Corporation.

Nearby residents affected by debris from the fire can request the company inspect and clean their roof and gutters, through the company’s website.