Author: Erin Elizabeth

Just this past Friday, at around 3 a.m., an 8-inch Sunoco Logistics pipeline was breached in northern Lycoming County, allowing a suspected 55,000 gallons of gasoline to enter Wallis Run, a tributary of Loyalsock Creek that flows into the river’s West Branch at Montoursville. Communities downstream from Williamsport that get their drinking water from the Susquehanna River were warned there could be gasoline in the stream. (By late Friday afternoon, there was still no confirmation that any of the gasoline had reached the river.) The extent of the damage won’t be fully known until the water recedes. As a...

(Editor’s note: Between this and the massive Sunoco gasoline spill into a river it’s been one heck of a scary week.) The Atchison City, Kansas, Manager’s Office reported two days ago that sodium hydrochlorite, also known as sodium hypochlorite, and sulfuric acid, were accidentally mixed together in the wrong holding tank on Friday morning, at MGP Ingredients Inc., causing a reaction. Because of the chemical spill, 102 people had to be treated in hospital. While most patients were treated, observed and released, three patients had to be admitted to Atchison Hospital and one was admitted to the ICU but was in stable...