Spilled Chemical Causes Stream

To Turn Milky White

By Andrew Gorosko

A normally clear-flowing tributary stream that runs alongside Hanover Road took on an opaque, milky white color on Wednesday, after a worker inadvertently spilled a foaming chemical on a driveway where a home improvement project was underway, officials said.

Although an about one-half mile length of the stream held pockets of the foam chemical along its course, the discoloration of the water was later determined not to be an environmental problem, but only a temporary aesthetic one until the foam would dissipate.

The chemical, whose trade name is ThermoSeal 500, is a component used in the application of spray-foam insulation in houses.

Officials said that a worker was handling the chemical in the driveway at 129 Hanover Road as part of a home improvement project, when several gallons of the liquid substance accidentally spilled onto the pavement, drained down the driveway during a heavy rain, and then entered a gutter alongside the street.

The substance then flowed into a stormwater catch basin, after which it drained into the tributary stream.

On reaching a turbulent set of rapids near the point where stream enters Lake Lillinonah at the state’s Pond Brook Boat Launch, the chemical foamed up more heavily, creating the appearance of a mass of shaving cream floating down the brook.

Newtown Hook & Ladder firefighters went to the incident and took precautions to control the foamy substance’s flow, initially not knowing the nature of the chemical.

Two state Department of Environmental Protection spill inspectors went to the incident to investigate the matter, after which they determined the chemical posed no environmental hazards.