Over the last 18 hours, a gas leak in southern Gloucester County has created an underlying smell that has permeated more than 50 miles away throughout the region into Burlington County. This smell impacting our community is caused by a chemical additive to natural gas, which will not negatively impact Camden County residents.
The chemical, Lubrizol-1389 (Zinc alkyldithiophosphate), expels a nuisance odor that may linger for some time; however, Haz-Mat Technicians have monitored and tested the air quality of the immediate incident scene as well as all surrounding areas that have experienced the odor. The results of the testing have confirmed that there is no risk to the public.
The first 911 call for the leak came in at 3:27 p.m. yesterday and a host of agencies have responded to the scene. The leak is emanating from a tractor trailer parked at the Travel Center Truck Stop on Berkley Road in East Greenwich Township.
Commissioner Jonathan Young, the liaison to the Department of Public Safety, talked about the teamwork to bring the situation under control and monitor air quality.
“I want to applaud the work of the Camden County Office of Emergency Management, our HazMat team and our partners throughout the county on their rapid response to assist our neighbors in Gloucester County,” Young said. “We’ve had personnel on scene since 5 p.m. yesterday and want to ensure the public that the situation is being resolved, nevertheless, the smell may not dissipate for several more hours.”
The Camden County HazMat team and several other HazMat member agencies from the Cherry Hill Fire Department, Bellmawr Fire Department and Gloucester City Fire Department have been deployed to the leak area over the last 15 hours and will be on site until the site has been fully remediated.
