Updated Dec. 4, 2017 at 2:35 p.m.
For updated information on the warehouse inventory, CLICK HERE.
To read the Plan of Corrective Action (POCA), CLICK HERE.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) has posted online information about hundreds of air quality samples taken in the area surrounding the fire at the Intercontinental Export Import warehouse in Parkersburg.
The information, which will be continuously updated, is available online here. The full air monitoring report is still being compiled and an updated version will be posted once those results are included.
Sampling conducted by the WVDEP’s Homeland Security and Emergency Response (HSER) team using handheld air monitors includes data on volatile organic compounds, oxygen, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, chlorine, and ammonia. Data collected by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also included in the data posted online. Additional air quality monitoring by both the WVDEP and EPA is ongoing.
The WVDEP Division of Air Quality (DAQ) has also announced that its air monitoring station nearby in Vienna, which is a permanent air monitoring station, measured 14.5 micrograms per cubic meter of particulates 2.5 microns and smaller over a 24-hour period on Sunday, Oct. 22. This normally would indicate a “Moderate (12.1 to 35 micrograms per cubic meter) Air Quality Index.” However, winds varied significantly over the 24-hour sampling period such that the smoke’s impact on the reading cannot be quantified. That same air monitoring station measured 8.4 micrograms per cubic meter of particulates 2.5 microns and smaller on Thursday, Oct. 19 – two days before the fire.
Also posted online is air quality monitoring results from testing conducted by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Those results are available here. These lab results indicate that all values were below short-term screening levels. The pollutants that were detected were at levels comparable to or lower than what is typically seen in urban areas.
For more DEP news and information, go to www.dep.wv.gov. Also, be sure to connect with the agency on all social media platforms. Follow @DEPWV on Twitter and find us on YouTube by searching “Environment Matters.” For specific information about our REAP (Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan), West Virginia Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), West Virginia Watershed Improvement Branch, Youth Environmental Program, and Human Resources initiatives, connect on Facebook.