TDEC Provides Update on Liberty Creek Issues in the City of Franklin

Nashville, Tenn. – The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) would like to provide an update to residents of the City of Franklin on the activities related to the contamination issues in Liberty Creek.

In January, the presence of solvent-type chemicals was confirmed in water and air sampling conducted by the City of Franklin and the Department of Environment and Conservation that is impacting an area along an approximately 500-foot section of Liberty Creek just before it runs into the Harpeth River.

The predominant contaminants that were found are acetone and toluene. Acetone is commonly used to make plastics and fibers and has many other uses including finger nail polish remover. Toluene is commonly found in paints, paint thinners and finger nail polish. The chemical levels found in the water and air have been compared to levels established by the federal government and are not considered harmful to anyone’s health.

At this time, it is unknown how long the chemicals have been releasing into this small section of the creek, but it is believed they have been reaching the creek through underground flow since no pipes, ditches or other drainage ways have been found. The department is working as quickly as possible to identify and address the source of the release.

Particular focus has been placed in the past week on a nearby manufacturing company, Egyptian Lacquer Company, which agreed to perform site assessment work at the request of TDEC. This assessment is to determine if any leakage has occurred from the on-site chemical storage tanks so that actions can be taken to clean up the contamination if any leakage is confirmed.

This week, conditions at Liberty Creek changed in a number of ways, one of the most significant being the level of “in stream flow,” or how much water is in and moving through the creek. The flow has decreased significantly from 330 gallons per minute (measured on Jan. 18, 2007) to 2 gallons per minute (measured on Feb. 8, 2007).

This has made it possible to now observe and gain access to a seep along the creek bank in a way that was not possible in mid-January and therefore some containment and recovery activities have begun that were also not possible just a couple of weeks ago. On Thursday, this visible seep was observed from the bank of the creek, Egyptian Lacquer agreed to voluntarily bring in an emergency contractor to intercept and recover the materials. This work began on Thursday afternoon and continues today.

Water sampling results from Jan. 31, 2007, have been compared with the previous sampling performed on Jan. 18, 2007. They show virtually no increase of acetone, which measured 33.9 parts per million (ppm) on Jan. 18 and 34.5 ppm on Jan. 31. Toluene increased from 13.5 ppm to 53.5 ppm, but at these concentrations and considered in the context of parts per million, this is not considered to be a drastic change.

For more information contact:

Dana Coleman
Office (615) 253-1916