Don’t touch: Why was brown snow falling from the sky in one Maine community?
WMTW, VIEWER PHOTOS, CNN
By Adam Bartow
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RUMFORD, Maine (WMTW) — A couple inches of snow fell in Rumford Monday night and Tuesday morning, but in parts of the community, people noticed brown or tan snow falling from the sky.
The town said Tuesday there was a malfunction at the paper mill that caused a release of spent black liquor, which is a by-product of the paper-making process. That black liquor then caused the falling snow to turn brown or tan.
Officials said it happened mostly in the areas right around the mill, especially Falmouth Street, Cumberland Street and Waldo Street.
Town officials said the pH of the substance is 10 which is alkali and therefore a skin irritant. Although it is non-toxic, it should not be touched.
“Testing right now has shown that the residual black liquor that’s left in some of our neighborhoods is testing at a pH level of eight or less,” said Rumford Town Manager George O’Keefe. “It’s not a hazardous material, but it could still potentially irritate skin, eyes or the paws on your dog.”
Officials from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection spent hours in Rumford Tuesday afternoon taking samples. Mill officials said they had fixed the problem and notified regulators of the issue.
In a statement Tuesday, the town said the mill had agreed to pay for third-party testing. That will be done independently with snow samples that will be sent to a lab with protected chain of custody. Based on guidance from DEP, the town said they are confident that the public safety concerns are minimal. however, they were urging people to avoid contact with the snow and to avoid ingesting the snow.
“It’s really not what our community deserves. We deserve better than this,” O’Keefe said. “The mill has made it very clear to us they feel this incident is unacceptable, that was the word they actually used, and they are going to be rectifying this for future operations.”
The town was also working with the local school district to make sure kids were not playing with brown snow. People were also urged to keep their pets away from the snow.
With heavy rain coming on Wednesday, officials said they are hoping all the black liquor will wash away and be flushed from the ground. However, much of the snow runoff will likely end up in the Androscoggin River.
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