CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The WVDEP is responding to a release of expanding firefighting foam in the Tupper Creek area near Sissonville. The foam is PFAS-free, but can cause skin and eye irritation if contact occurs, and has been detected in sections of Wolfpen Branch, Tupper Creek, and the Pocatalico River. At this time, investigators have not observed any impacts to aquatic life, but will continue to actively monitor the areas.
A contractor was using the foam to put out an underground mine fire at an abandoned mine land site near Blue Creek in Eastern Kanawha County late Friday evening. The spill occurred at the contractor's workshop near Sissonville late Friday evening or early Saturday morning
WVDEP staff from the agency's Homeland Security Emergency Response unit and Environmental Enforcement section are currently on-scene, along with the contractor and the foam's manufacturer, to locate all of the material and decide on a path forward for remediation.
Significant concentrations of the material are not expected to migrate downstream. The State Department of Health's Bureau for Public Health has notified potential downstream water intakes out of an abundance of caution.
WVDEP staff will remain on site through the duration of the cleanup.