Virginia has reopened its investigation into a fish kill in Henrico County after finding high chlorine levels in one of the two ponds in which fish died.
About 1,100 fish died in the ponds — one of about 3 acres, one smaller — in Winchester Green in western Henrico.
Two tests in the larger pond Monday found chlorine levels more than 10 times higher than that allowed in open water by state law.
"We have reopened our investigation," said Bill Hayden, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Quality.
DEQ officials said last week that they believed the fish were killed by chlorinated water that gushed into the ponds from a Jan. 27 break in a nearby drinking-water line. Henrico officials have said all along they were skeptical of that.
Now, the DEQ will run more tests to get a better idea of what's happening in the pond and to help determine how to address the problem, Hayden said.
Charles Small, manager of the Winchester Green Association, a homeowners group, said the tests confirm his contention that the water-line chlorine killed the fish.
"There is no mystery to this," Small said.
But Bill Mawyer, Henrico's assistant director of public utilities, said he can't recall a water-line break causing a fish kill in his 11 years with the county. "This is a unique circumstance for us."
Mawyer said Henrico will also test the pond water and will cooperate with the DEQ on what needs to be done.
A DEQ biologist ran two tests Monday in the larger pond. The tests found chlorine levels of 0.20 and 0.21 parts per million in the water — more than 10 times the legal limit of 0.019 ppm, said the DEQ's Hayden.
Chlorine usually dissipates quickly in the open air. "It's surprising that chlorine was detected so long after the (water-line) event," Hayden said.
But Henrico treats its drinking water with, among other things, chloramines — chemicals that contain chlorine and ammonia. Chlorine in chloramines lasts longer in water than chlorine by itself, experts say.
For chlorine levels to be high 10 days after the water-line break, said Small of the homeowners group, "there must have been a massive amount of chlorine in the water when it happened."
Now, Small said, "something will have to be done to get it out."
The DEQ had closed its investigation last week, saying the fish were too deteriorated to test and that any chlorine had probably dissipated naturally. The agency ran the tests Monday in response to concerns raised by Small's group.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement