SKIPPACK, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say an odor that prompted a
voluntary evacuation of about 100 homes in suburban Philadelphia is due
to an organic compound coming from the sump pumps in the basements.
The
Montgomery County hazardous response team, state Department of
Environmental Protection and federal Environmental Protection Agency are
working to identify the "volatile organic compound" involved, the
county Department of Public Safety said in a statement Monday.
Officials
said a strong order was reported at a home in the Skippack Township
neighborhood at about 5:45 p.m. Sunday. The township fire company
responded with meters that "went into alarm" in the basement of the
residence, and more homes were tested and found to have levels of the
organic compound as well, the public safety department said.
Fire
Chief Haydn Marriott had earlier told WPVI-TV in Philadelphia that crews
testing the homes had gotten high readings of a poisonous gas called
hydrogen cyanide. But he said the crews didn’t actually think the odor
in the homes was from hydrogen cyanide, but some other chemical.
An
emergency shelter was set up at the local elementary school, and the
American Red Cross of southeastern Pennsylvania said 10 people from four
families were put up for the night. Some residents went to a hospital
as a precaution and were released.
Residents are being asked to
contact the township and have their homes tested for the presence of the
compound before returning home.
Volatile organic compounds are
found in products such as gasoline, paints and paint thinners and
solvents used for dry cleaning and metal degreasing, according to the
U.S. Geological Survey. They can find their way into ground water from
spills or leaking storage tanks or in stormwater runoff from roads and
parking lots. The compounds are usually used in liquid form and are
called volatile because many can readily evaporate.