SNOW HILL, MD - The Town of Snow Hill is monitoring an on-going incident at the Tyson Feed Mill that is the reported source of a pungent odor throughout the Town.
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Neighbors in Snow Hill are once again dealing with an all too familiar situation: A pungent odor associated with the silo fire at the Tyson Feed Mill. This time however, the smell isn't coming from Tyson's property. This new smell is coming from the tap water inside people's homes.
During the efforts to control the fire inside the silo iron got stirred up in the towns wells. It's why some neighbors have noticed a sulfur smell in their water.
The town says while the smell is unpleasant, there is no danger to the public. Those we spoke with on Wednesday though said this just adds to their frustration with everything that has happened within the past month.
Bessie Jenkins let us take a look and get a whiff of her water on Wednesday. When she turned the faucet in her kitchen on, the smell appeared right away.
"And you notice that smell," said Jenkins.
She said it's been this way for the past three weeks. For Jenkins this is the last straw and just another wrinkle in the situation that started at the Tyson Feed Mill back in May.
"We get up and first thing in the morning we're smelling this smell from in the house, in the sink, and then outside you can't even sit outside on your porch and enjoy it," said Jenkins.
She's not the only one in Snow Hill who feels that way.
"I just think that there needs to be some accountability on Tyson's part for the town," said Pamela Coston. "Just because we live here doesn't mean we have to live in all kinds of situations."
Public works has been going through town and flushing hydrants which should help get rid of the smell. People can also take it upon themselves and flush their hot water heaters, but for Jenkins that would mean calling upon a professional.
"And that's money on us, it's on us and it shouldn't be," said Jenkins.
We were unable to get any additional information from town officials outside of this post on social media.
We also reached out to Tyson, who told us there should not have been any impact on Snow Hill's water system from the fire at the feed mill, because they did not use well water and the towns wells are not near the property.
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At approximately 10:48 a.m. on Saturday, June 1st, the roof of the silo collapsed. Crews were onsite at the time of the accident, but no injuries were reported.
Snow Hill Fire Chief Michael Creech said just minutes before the roof fell, workers felt something wasn't right.
"They noticed a significant increase in the smoke condition and the color changing of the smoke and steam coming from the roof," said Creech. "That prompted them to start evacuating the area."
Megan Lavie lives right across the street from the feed mill. She has eagerly watched this process from the beginning, and was shocked when she came home to a hectic scene on Saturday morning.
"It seemed like there were police everywhere, there were firetrucks, ambulances, we were just super freaked out because we had a feeling something was getting ready to go down," said Lavie. "We didn't know if it was going to explode, if anybody had gotten hurt."
Again, no injuries were reported.
Despite the events from this past weekend, the fire inside the silo is still burning.
"In terms of fire department operations there's not a lot going on, we still do have small pockets of fire within the silo, it is contained only to the silo though," said Creech. "We're currently not putting water on it per the demolition company and the salvage company."
Crews hired by Tyson are expected to remove what is left of the corn. The attention in town, however, has shifted to demolition.
"Tyson's really taking it over, they are bringing in a salvage company to start going through the corn and the silo will be demolished with all applicable permits and with a separate contractor," said Creech.
Creech said the demolition could take place as early as Wednesday, June 5th.
"We will have notification of it and be able to make notification to the citizens of the town of demolition is occurring, however we expect it to be very controlled and localized onsite," said Creech.
Tyson did provide WBOC with an updated statement on Monday:
"As we continue to progress efforts to safely extinguish the fire and remove corn from the silo at our Snow Hill, Maryland feed mill, the roof of the silo collapsed on Saturday morning. Our onsite crew and the local fire department anticipated the incident in advance and worked to safely secure the area. Our onsite crew is working in coordination with the fire department, Worcester County and structural engineers on next steps as we work to safely stop the fire. Our highest priority is the safety of our team members, first responders and the residents of Snow Hill. We will continue to update officials on the situation and are grateful for the continued support and patience of the community as we work to safely resolve the incident."
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As of May 30th, a fire has been burning inside a silo in Snow Hill for two weeks. There is still no definitive end in sight.
Two weeks ago, Tyson officials said this would be wrapped up quickly, which has not happened.
Snow Hill Fire Chief Michael Creech did provide us with an update on the situation.
He said Tyson and its contractors are still using nitrogen to displace oxygen and combustion gasses inside the silo. It's why smoke and steam can be seen leaving the top of the grain bin.
Creech also said much of the odor is still present and is coming from corn that has already been removed and is out in the air cooling down.
Fire control operations are expected to last for several more days.
"We understand that our community would like this situation resolved as quickly as possible, however the priority is to ensure that this is managed as safely as possible for both workers and the community. Unfortunately, that requires slow and deliberate work", said Snow Hill Fire Chief Michael Creech.
Tyson also provided us with a statement on Thursday, May 30th.
"We continue to work closely with the local fire department and an on-site grain recovery team to safely extinguish the fire and remove corn from the silo at our Snow Hill, Maryland feed mill. We are making progress removing the corn and will continue to work as quickly as possible in the coming days to resolve the situation. We appreciate the patience and partnership of the community and local officials as we take the time needed to ensure the safety and well-being of our team members, first responders and residents of Snow Hill."
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Crews have been working to extinguish a silo fire in Snow Hill for five days now. The situation is still under control, and a lot of progress has been made in the past 48 hours. But, this has been quite a stubborn situation.
The fire is at the point where it's only smoldering. There aren't any more flames, but a lot of the material inside the silo is still hot, which is why crews were hosing down the grain as it was being trucked out.
Special contractors have been hired by Tyson to do most of the work, and the first order of business this week was keeping the fire contained within the silo.
"We really had to wait for them[contracted workers] to do their work and do their job since that's what they're trained to do," said Michael Creech, Snow Hill's Volunteer Fire Chief. "We couldn't put water on it and we couldn't just open up the silo and let the fire come out, that would've been too dangerous."
The method underway is to pump in nitrogen to force oxygen out and smother the flames.
"They are pumping an inert gas into it, that is the process that they've chosen," said Creech. "It does happen to be nitrogen but it's a very contained way of doing it and the safest way to do so."
The second part of the process is getting all of the grain out, which is work that continued Thursday and could continue on for the next few days.
Creech said as work progresses into the weekend, they will get deeper into the burned material, which will cause the pungent odor to return. People in the area will also see more smoke, but Creech said it's nothing to be alarmed about.
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We learned on Monday, May 20th the silo fire is still active, and the smell that has bothered neighbors for over a week is still quite noticeable.
Tyson did provide us with an update on the progress thus far:
“We are continuing to monitor a fire inside a silo at our Snow Hill, Maryland feed mill. The fire is contained inside the silo, and we are working closely with the local fire department and a specialized onsite team. Because the silo contains corn, those in the area may continue to notice an odor coming from the facility while we work to safely extinguish the fire. Out of an abundance of caution for safety, the roads leading to the facility have been closed. We will continue to provide regular updates to local officials in the Snow Hill community.”
Tyson and the Snow Hill Volunteer Fire Company have been monitoring the air quality. On the fire company's end, Chief Mike Creech told us they have not found anything dangerous.
Tyson also provided a statement, saying "current data shows no elevated levels of concern outside of normal ambient air."
Both the fire company and Tyson told us to expect updates in the coming days. Chief Creech said people can also regularly check their Facebook page.
"I can't even describe it, it takes your breath away," said Jacob Lavie, who lives across the street from the feed mill. "I mean if you're outside too long you get nauseous, I mean it's unbearable."
Lavie said the odor has began to impact everyday life.
"I'll get home from work or we'll get back from the store or whatever and we go inside and you can smell it in the house, like all the windows are closed it's unreal," said Lavie.
According to a statement from Snow Hill, Tyson has informed the Town of a fire inside one of the feed mill’s silos. Snow Hill shared a statement from the company assuring the fire is contained inside the silo and Tyson is working closely with the local fire department to resolve the incident.
“Because the silo contains corn, those in the area may notice an odor coming from the facility temporarily,” Tyson said to Snow Hill officials, according to the Town’s statement.
According to the statement shared Friday evening, the roads leading to the feed mill have been closed.
Snow Hill officials, including Mayor Mike Pruitt, in-coming Mayor Janet Simpson, Town Manager Rick Pollitt, and Chief of Police Andy McGee met at the old Snow Hill firehouse with Tyson representatives. Snow Hill says they pressed for assurances that the air quality was not a health risk and there were no threats to the surrounding neighborhood.
"But their[Tyson] environmental people when they go to open this tank, their environmental people will be there on-site to manage all of that air quality just to be sure," said Pruitt.
Tyson representatives informed the town that the air quality would be monitored by IA Bulk Materials, a company specializing in storage structure fires, according to the Town’s statement. Company engineers are also slated to be on-site Saturday, May 18th to assess the situation, the statement reads.
"They're going to take some readings, they're going to dissipate the heat, they're going to cut a hole in the silo and then they're going to extract the bad material," said Pruitt.
Pruitt told us once crews arrive to the feed mill, the hope is the issue is resolved within 24 hours.
Snow Hill officials say they asked Tyson to provide a contact for neighbors to call with questions regarding the silo fire and smell: TysonFoodsPR@tyson.com.
“The Town of Snow Hill wishes to assure all our citizens that we will monitor the situation closely until it is corrected,” the Town said Friday. “The full resources of the police department, fire and ambulance service and Town staff are prepared to respond immediately if called upon.”