MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. —
Crews worked Saturday to clean up after a chemical fire at the Zschimmer & Schwarz plant in Milledgeville that happened Monday night. However, what crews can’t clean up as soon is what the fire caused to the nearby Fishing Creek.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division says chemicals from the Zschimmer & Schwarz fire caused a fish kill in the creek.
"The potential damage is concerning. We can’t really consume these fish anymore," said Christian Briggs, a Georgia College and State University student.
As of Friday, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division is warning people not to eat fish out of Fishing Creek.
Gary Andrews has lived near Fishing Creek for over 70 years. He says he hasn’t seen anything like this.
"I hope they get it cleaned up. Hopefully, it won’t go into the Oconee River," Andrews said.
Several neighbors nearby expressed the same concerns.
Wayne Johnson, the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency director, says the county is also advising people to not eat fish out of the Oconee River since Fishing Creek flows into it.
"You can see the rate of flow here. It’s moving. All these rivers connect," said Kharis Shrage, a researcher with the University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources.
Shrage and Morgan Siebka were out at the Oconee River studying sturgeon on Saturday.
"I haven’t spent much time here, but we’ve seen like five people fishing," Siebka said.
The researchers said they hadn’t heard about the chemicals being in Fishing Creek but were curious to know what was in the water.
“Phosphetal C810-4, a lubricant... that’s not good. Glycol ether DB, a solvent... that’s not good either. Sorbitanmonolaurate and Sorbitan monooleate, which are used as food additives, maybe those are better than the others,” Shrage listed off, when reading the chemicals the EPD says are in the creek.
“I don’t know what those chemicals specifically are, but anything with a name that long probably shouldn’t be consumed," she said.
Moving forward, some residents have expressed they want the plant to help get the creek back to what it was.
"I hope they acknowledge their responsibility to the situation and try to do as much as they can to fix it," Briggs said.
On Tuesday, Zschimmer and Schwarz released a statement about the fire.
"Damage to plants and buildings as well as potential contamination due to leakage of extinguishing water or product are currently being examined," the press release said. "A hazmat team that has been called to the scene supports decontamination measures and the cleaning of the laboratories."
The cause of the fire is still unclear and currently is being investigated. Zschimmer & Schwarz said in the release they are cooperating with authorities.
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