DEP tested air for six chemical compounds near SPS Technologies, and Philly tested for two dozen

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said Thursday it tested the air for six chemical compounds just southeast of the SPS Technologies fire in Abington and did not detect “any chemicals of concern.”

The state’s lead environmental regulator also launched a web page devoted to the incident, which it will update with the latest information on its findings on the fire that ignited Monday night.

The agency said it was working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to monitor two sites southeast, and downwind, of the plant on Highland Avenue in Abington, Montgomery County.

One monitor is at the railroad tracks between the plant and the houses to its southeast. The second is next to the Jenkintown Middle/High School complex. Bucks County’s hazmat team roved the air with handheld meters.

The DEP and EPA tested for three sizes of particulate matter, hydrogen cyanide, chlorine, volatile organic compounds, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfuric acid. Volatile organic compounds are chemicals that evaporate easily and can dissolve into water. Some present health risks for people exposed to them.

Officials did not say why they tested specifically for those chemicals, and did not release information as to what chemicals were being stored or used at SPS Technologies at the time.

Separately, the DEP said Wednesday that some chemicals were detected in nearby Tookany Creek, but at low levels that did not pose a concern.

The DEP report comes on the heels of separate air monitoring conducted by Philadelphia for more than two dozen compounds, part of the department’s standard battery of air tests. They included tests for benzene and methyl ethyl ketone, two of the waste products generated and disposed at SPS Technologies in 2023, according to federal records.

James Garrow, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, said the city, which borders Abington Township, took a sample Tuesday with a canister at Kenmore Avenue and Stewart Road.

The sample was run through a mass spectrometer for a broad view of compounds in the air and their concentrations.

The city has said that none of the chemicals reached the level of a health threat, and that they were “well below” the “permissible exposure limits,” or PEL, that are set by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. A chemical’s PEL is the amount that a worker can be exposed to eight hours a day and 40 hours a week, over the course of a working lifetime, without seeing adverse health effects.

In addition, the city conducted “real-time monitoring” from a mobile van for a smaller list of pollutants and toxics on scene.

Rachel Cunningham, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Fire Department, said the department’s unit that oversees HAZMAT operations tested the air quality around Temple University Hospital-Jeanes Campus, which sits at the city border about five miles from SPS Technologies.

“We liaised with everyone involved in this response to identify the downwind threats. The Office of Emergency Management [identifies] areas nearby to look out for that might be sensitive — Jeanes was one of those, given our proximity,” Cunningham said. She added that wind conditions were such that Philadelphia was not at a high risk for exposure to any potential toxic gases from the fire.

The department performed a standard test for volatile organic compounds using a device that can detect hundreds of these chemicals, Cunningham said, and found no such compounds.