Ketchikan pulp mill chemical release; ward cove, ketchikan, alaska

Original warning text

Ketchikan Pulp Mill Chemical Release; Ward Cove, Ketchikan, Alaska.
Ward Cove, Ketchikan, Alaska.
1. On October 21, 1996, about 3,000 gallons of a water-treatment chemical, optical, optimer 7128 cation (a flocculant used in the water treatment process), overflowed from its tank at Ketchikan Pulp Corporation (KPC) with an undetermined amount flowing into Ward Cove. Some of the material was recovered but, once in the water, it congealed into white, jelly-like globs, some as large as golf balls. This substance has a density similar to water so the globs dispersed through various depths down to about eight feet. Because the chemical did not stay at the surface, using a water-skimming boom to recover the chemical was not feasible. The substance was still visible the next day in Ward Cove, but seemed to dissipate by that evening. Optimer 7128 is a non-regulated substance, is not listed by the Federal Government as a marine pollutant, and does not pose a hazard to navigation. KPC employees [...]
2. COMMODITY: OPTIMER 7128 CATION FLOCCULANT, OR ETHYL OXYLATED ALCOHOL. MAXIMUM POTENTIAL RELEASE: 3000 GALLONS.
3. POSITION 55.600N 132.200W. NOAA INCIDENTNEWS 7156: https://incidentnews.noaa.gov/incident/7156