Philadelphia officials warn residents to use bottled water following chemical spill: report

Philadelphia residents were advised by city officials Sunday to use bottled water following a potentially harmful chemical spill, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Per The Philadelphia Inquirer, "On Saturday, the Water Department said it had closed intakes at its Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant on the Delaware River, following Friday night's spill of more than 8,000 gallons of a latex-finishing solution into Otter Creek in Bristol Borough."

Mike Carroll, deputy managing director for the city's Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability, said during a news conference, "Among the chemicals released into Otter Creek is butyl acrylate, which was one of the chemicals released in the East Palestine train derailment," and "boiling tap water would not remove the chemicals in question," according to the city.

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Carroll said resident's were safe to consume water from the city's water system "before about 2 p.m."

However, according to CNN, a grocery store "in South Philadelphia said it was selling out of bottled water before 2 p.m. Sunday."

A store employee said, "When the store is able to restock shelves, it plans to limit cases of bottled water to three per customer."

Carroll noted, although "no contaminants have been found in Philadelphia's water system, 'we cannot be 100% certain there will not be traces of these chemicals in the tap water throughout the entire afternoon."

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The city official added, "the health risks associated with the chemicals were 'very low,' asserting, "There are no acute effects associated with the low-level exposures of these contaminants that we’re seeing. Our best information is that people who ingest water will not suffer any near-term symptoms or any acute medical conditions. And so we foresee no need to seek medical attention related to this event."

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:

The city's Water Department released a map for residents to look up whether they are potentially impacted. The map suggests that just about all of Northwest Philadelphia and all neighborhoods west of the Schuylkill are not impacted.

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The Philadelphia Inquirer's full report is available at this link. CNN's report is here.