Northampton Health officials monitoring waterways

JACKSON – The Northampton County Health Department is closely monitoring a situation involving the runoff from a July 6 fire at an agricultural  chemical storage facility in South Hill, VA.

This comes after the Virginia Department of Health issued a recreational swimming and fish consumption advisory until further notice for surface waters, including the Meherrin and Roanoke rivers.

A large volume of water used to fight the fire resulted in runoff containing agricultural chemicals. This runoff flowed into storm water drains and into nearby Mountain Creek, which flows into the Meherrin River.

As of Monday (July 15), the Northampton County Health Department says there is no indication that the chemical plume has made its way to Lake Gaston or any other waterway in Northampton. However, out of an abundance of caution, county health officials remain in contact with the appropriate local, North Carolina, and Virginia authorities monitoring the progress of this event for any potential impact to Northampton County.

Area drinking water utility suppliers have been notified of the issue and continue to test all drinking water for Northampton County. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) and Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) are testing the affected waterways routinely and reporting those results to the Northampton County Health Department and its partner agencies.

Virginia DEQ reports that the chemical plume is moving slowly.

Meanwhile, the Communicable Disease Branch of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has begun syndromic surveillance of hospitals serving Warren, Halifax, and Northampton counties. This effort, mirroring that of the Virginia Department of Health, is focusing on tracking symptoms to include eye and skin irritation, allergic skin reactions, drowsiness or dizziness, respiratory irritation, nausea, and loss of consciousness reported in emergency departments.

If you have been in the affected waterways and experience these symptoms, please seek medical care and notify your practitioner of the exposure.

If you notice any plumes, sheens, or fish kills in these waterways avoid coming into contact with these waters and report these conditions to 1-877-623-6748.

Northampton County Health Department will continue to update citizens as the incident progresses.

At approximately 2 p.m. on July 6, a passenger vehicle crashed into a utility pole and two 125-gallon propane tanks located on the sidewalk in front of a warehouse used to store agricultural chemicals in South Hill. One of the tanks caught fire, which spread to the warehouse.

The fire was fully extinguished at approximately 1 p.m. the following day (July 7).

Contractors set up air monitoring equipment at locations surrounding the site. Samples of the contaminated runoff were collected and submitted for laboratory analysis.

Virginia DEQ began assessing impacts to nearby streams and tracking downstream movement of the firefighting water runoff. Dead fish and aquatic insects were observed. DEQ has continued their monitoring efforts, to include taking water samples, since that time.

On July 11, the City of Emporia ceased drawing water from the Meherrin River and began obtaining water from the Greensville County Water and Sewer Authority who draws water from the Nottoway River. The Nottoway River is not affected by the runoff from the fire.

For more information related to the incident please visit www.deq.virginia.gov

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