Further trafalgar fire test results

Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista Smoke fills the air alongside Trafalgar Road on a cool, humid day.
Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista Smoke fills the air alongside Trafalgar Road on a cool, humid day.

Further test results for the Trafalgar Road fire have been released by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.

Surface water test results from the site showed the presence of some hazardous compounds.

According to a preliminary review of the samples published by the Arkansas Department of Health, surface water samples were collected Jan. 23 and analyzed for volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, anions, metals and dissolved metals.

According to the report, most compounds were at background levels and below health screening values, though a handful of compounds -- arsenic, manganese and benzene -- did exceed those values.

The compounds are currently determined by the ADH to pose no apparent public health hazard.

The surface water is not a drinking water source and will not be a risk to humans in that way, according to the report. Skin contact provides another exposure pathway and poses some risk to on-site workers, according to the report, and those workers are aware of personal protective equipment requirements.

According to the report, more details on this surface water evaluation will be available in the future.

Air monitoring results for Jan. 31 to Feb. 3 were also released, showing an air quality index category of "good" for each day except Feb. 1, which read at "moderate."

The ADEQ defines "good" air quality as "satisfactory, and air pollution poses little to no risk," and moderate as "acceptable." However, for some pollutants, there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people.

General News on 02/13/2019