Gazette staff

CHILLICOTHE — An Ohio Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman said Monday that Glatfelter did not properly notify local authorities about a chemical discharge on Halloween, the smell of which was picked up as far away as Columbus.

Heather Lauer said an EPA probe into the matter has shown that Glatfelter failed to report the discharge to local fire or emergency management authorities within the threshold of public notification regulations.

Under a Right to Know law, if certain levels of specific chemicals are released into the air, the local fire department and emergency management agency must be notified within 30 minutes of the discharge, Lauer said.

The Oct. 31 discharge, she said, emanated from the paper mill smokestack when a mechanism designed to capture sulfur malfunctioned and a backup also failed, requiring the air handling unit to be taken down for maintenance.

A pair of chemicals on the reportable list — hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan — were released into the air in quantities above the levels requiring reporting under the law. One of the chemicals is a byproduct of the paper mill pulping process, whereas the other is primarily an odorant, similar to what is added to odorless natural gas to detect leaks.

Lauer said the agency has reviewed the amount of the discharge and determined that, in addition to the smell, it could have "caused minor health symptoms a mile away." The symptoms, Lauer said, would be such things as a minor sore throat, watery eyes and nausea.

The smell, which was talked about across Chillicothe on Halloween, also generated social media posts and 911 calls from as far away as Columbus and Newark.

On Halloween night, the company had said there had been a failure in the venting system about 1:30 that morning that was repaired and back up and running again by 7:45 a.m. At the time, Glatfelter officials said they had notified the EPA of the situation.

Lauer confirmed the agency had heard from the company but was not informed of the necessary details of the incident.

"We did know something happened, but we did not know they were reporting under Right to Know," she said.

Mitzi Anderson, senior human resources manager for Glatfelter, released a statement from the company Monday evening reiterating that the EPA was notified Oct. 31 of the operational issues the company was having.

"In the days following, we have provided additional follow-up information, verbally and in writing, to local and state agencies, including the Ohio EPA," the statement says. "We will continue to work closely and cooperate with the Ohio EPA on their investigation."

Lauer said the agency is continuing to investigate the situation and that it is still uncertain whether an official notice of violation will be filed. The Ohio EPA's primary goal is to bring companies back into compliance, she said, whereas local authorities or the State Emergency Response Commission would have the ability to pursue any other potential remedies under Right to Know if members so choose.