Emergency responders set up equipment and worked for several hours Monday after chemicals were discovered flowing from a cooling tower at Clarkston Junior High School.
No injuries were reported.
The problem was first discovered when a Clarkston resident noticed an unusual green hue in the river behind her home on Waldon Road, just east of M-15, and called the city’s Department of Public Works.
DPW Director Bob Pursley arrived quickly, checked out the scene and backtracked until he was able to locate the source and identify the chemical as Glycol’commonly known as antifreeze.
‘I could see little pockets of green in the river,? he said, noting the substance was visible in the water as far as the bridge near Depot Park on M-15. ‘In the discharge where the water was flowing out, it was super green.?
Pursley said he grabbed a shovel to immediately begin ‘diking up? the flow, and alerted the Independence Township Fire Department, the Oakland County Drain Commission and the North Oakland Hazmat Team.
Pursley also flagged down a school maintained person who was passing in a truck.
‘He said he wasn’t aware of anything,? Pursley said. ‘But he went back and checked and let (the school) know what was going on.?
Linda Jabaro, Clarkston Community School’s communications coordinator, said she ‘didn’t know anything about? the situation, and couldn’t put The Clarkston News in touch with anyone more knowledgeable.
She did, however, transfer a call to CJHS Principal Shawn Ryan’s voice mail, noting Ryan would be in an administrative retreat for the day, and Anita Banach, communications director, was ‘going into a meeting.?
No one answered a direct call to the junior high, which was closed Monday.
Independence Township Fire Chief Steve Ronk said it appeared several hundred gallons of antifreeze were released.
‘The schools, from what they are telling us said they had 1,000 gallons in the system,? he said. ‘How much of that was released? Quite a bit of it to get down to that river. They still think there is still ‘x amount? in the system, but until they refill it, they won’t know what the actual count is. It was hundreds of gallons.?
Ronk acknowledged the situation definitely posed a threat.
‘Oh yeah, that’s not something that should be free in the environment,? he said. ‘It got into the underground storm system, which takes rain runoff, made its way from the junior high school to the crick that runs under Waldon road by the church.?
It was at that point, he noted, the concerned resident noticed the green color in the river.
A member of the North Oakland Technical Rescue team entered the drainage area off Waldon Road and used airbags to block the flow.
Workers were on the scene most of Monday.
‘We brought a contractor in, in conjunction with the schools, to clean it up and suck up all the products out from underground,? Ronk said, noting he checked on the site Tuesday morning and found the system operating normally.
‘There’s water going through there like crazy,? he said. ‘Everything is clear and looks good.?
Trevor Keiser contributed to this report