The City of Akron shared a report Friday afternoon that found “no unsafe levels of contaminants” were detected during the five days the air quality was monitored following an industrial chemical fire on Rosemary Boulevard in East Akron.
Because of those findings, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Summit County Public Health and the City of Akron agreed to discontinue air quality monitoring in the area, according to a news release from the city.
The air around the SMB Products building was monitored starting on the morning of Sept. 6, the day after the chemical-filled building caught fire. CTEH, an environmental consulting company hired by SMB’s “representatives,” conducted the study through Sept. 11.
The chemical xylene, particularly dangerous when its vapors are inhaled, was thought to be stored in the building, but it was never detected in any of the 368 readings taken while the air was being monitored, according to preliminary data.
The study found “elevated fine particulate matter” (PM2.5) in all 71 of its readings for them, “the majority of which did not exceed health-protective guidelines” set by the EPA.
There were elevated concentrations of fine particulate matter temporarily observed in the immediate vicinity of the building during “short-term flare up events,” the report stated.
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is made up of fine inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller. That’s about one-thirtieth the diameter of the average human hair. Per the EPA, they contain “microscopic solids or liquid droplets that are so small that they can be inhaled and cause serious health problems.”
Sam Rubens, the administrator of the Akron Regional Air Quality Management District, said in an email to Signal Akron that “PM2.5 is a regulated pollutant and is always found in the air” and that “the concentrations of PM2.5 were similar to the ambient concentrations found normally.”
That explained, he said, why the study’s summary said it was found in all the samples taken but didn’t exceed unhealthful levels. The elevated samples for PM2.5, Rubens said, were found in the work zone when flare ups occurred but did not extend past the incident “fence line” to the residential area nearby.
The study found one instance of “volatile organic compounds,” or VOCs, in 376 readings “in an area where no members of the public were present.” According to the EPA, VOCs are emitted by many products and include “a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short- and long-term adverse health effects.”
Rubens said the VOCs in the one sample were at a very low level. “There were elevated samples identified inside the ‘fence line’ but again,” he said, “not in the residential area.”
The results of the study were satisfactory to the City of Akron, Summit County Public Health, and Ohio EPA officials, who ended the study due to the apparently encouraging findings.
“We are happy to report that repeated and continuous testing of our air quality has shown no unsafe levels of contaminants in our community throughout the duration of the testing,” Mayor Shammas Malik said in a Friday afternoon press release.
The mayor’s office on Friday also said that a water quality study is still ongoing. When trying to contain the blaze, “fire suppression materials ran off into a creek adjacent to the site,” the release states. The creek runs into Long Lake, which is not a drinking water source, three miles away.
Results from the water study are expected next week.
