The warehouse and another facility burned earlier this month.
The warehouse and another facility burned earlier this month.
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The warehouse and another facility burned earlier this month.
The people who live near a Chickasha warehouse filled with hand sanitizer want more assurance their community is safe.
The warehouse and another facility burned earlier this month. A mile from the facility that burned, there are boxes of hand sanitizers stacked high on a property.
"I want it cleaned up. They said I wasn't the first one that had called them with concerns," said Derrek Stump, who lives in Chickasha.
A long-time resident said it has been the talk of the town and they want it cleaned up immediately.
"About Late July, [the Department of Environmental Quality] received complaints of a site where massive amounts of hand sanitizer were being stored," said Erin Hatfield of Oklahoma DEQ.
KOCO 5 first reported on the fire at the facility storing hand sanitizer in early August.
"Just a bunch of trucks coming in and out, raised a bunch of questions in my head. So, I started asking around and found out it was hand sanitizer and various other things, heard that it might be being disposed of improperly," Stump said.
With the alcohol content of the hand sanitizer, fire officials in Grady County had concerns about runoff going into their drinking water. The DEQ is waiting on soil and water sample results.
Residents are now asking for justice, saying that the parties who were responsible for it have to clean it up because they don’t want their town polluted.
The DEQ now says the hand sanitizer wasn’t properly stored and they’ve ordered the business owner to stop, but they’re also trying to assure neighbors.
"We want people to know that this site is secure, that we did call in EPA, for additional assistance, they were on site the 13th," Hatfield said.
If you think any hand sanitizer isn’t being stored properly, DEQ wants you to contact them.
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