Harrison carwash seen as green fluid’s source

A carwash in Harrison was the likely source of the fluorescent green liquid found last week in Dry Jordan Creek, according to a report from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.

In the report, which was finalized Wednesday morning after a draft review, Environmental Quality Department inspector Bruce Kirkpatrick said the water had the “Fluorescent green color of water dyed with fluorescein and had no odor.”

The bright-green water was initially reported to the Environmental Quality Department last Thursday, according to the report. Kirkpatrick said he collected samples of the water, which were analyzed at department laboratories in North Little Rock on Friday.

Kirkpatrick investigated several businesses in the area, trying to determine the source of the green liquid, including the 65 Food Mart, which has an attached carwash that appeared to have been inactive, according to the report. Harrison had experienced several days of subfreezing temperatures, during which time waterlines in several area businesses had suffered damage, Kirkpatrick said.

Kirkpatrick said he contacted Moe Serajuddowla, the owner of the 65 Food Mart and carwash, who said that a waterline had burst inside a storage area inside the carwash Jan. 8, and that the water supply to the facility had been shut off by Harrison. Kirkpatrick found that several drums of chemicals, including car wax and several liquid cleaning agents, had overflowed, apparently diluted by water from a burst 2-inch pipe, according to the report.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Environmental Quality Department had not issued any statement as to whether the chemical discharge posed any danger of toxicity to area residents or wildlife.

Katherine Benenati, a department spokesman, said Tuesday that the chemical release was being considered accidental, and that “no determination has been made on possible enforcement actions.”

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 01/16/2014

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