TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — Hand sanitizer bottles floating in the Trinity River are the result of an Oct. 6 fire at a warehouse storing the product, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ, said Thursday.
About 20 fire trucks and 85 firefighters responded to the fire at the warehouse on Cullen Street in Fort Worth around 10:30 p.m. Oct 6. Officials said it appeared that the alcohol-based hand sanitizer may have played a role in the fire.
That warehouse was storing “a large quantity of hand sanitizer,” according to the TCEQ.
A TCEQ spokesperson said water used to put out the flames created a runoff that entered a storm drain, which flows into the Trinity River.
In a statement, the TCEQ said:
The City of Fort Worth responded to the scene and placed booms in the storm drain to try and capture the bottles that are being carried by the water off-site. TCEQ DFW Region became aware of the fire on October 7th and staff responded onsite. The fire affected the warehouse and caused the building to collapse. The building owner has hired an environmental company to conduct cleanup and they are in the process of developing a remediation plan. TCEQ staff will be working with the responsible party to ensure appropriate response actions are taken. The investigation is ongoing at this time.
The city of Fort Worth told WFAA its code-environmental team is working with the fire department on the case.
Christopher Bain spends every lunch break fishing on the Trinity River and immediately noticed all the hand sanitizer bottles.
“It looked like they had a big Mardi Gras party in the water, and everybody trashed it,” Bain said. “I can’t even exaggerate enough how bad it was.”
Bain said he usually catches at least eight or nine fish a week. But not lately.
“I haven’t caught anything out here in over a week,” Bain said. “It’s definitely from the hand sanitizer.”
Clean-up crews filled a couple dozen black trash bags of hand sanitizer. But there were still some bottles floating down the river Thursday.
“It’s about all of it: The environment, the fish and pollution. Because this is our water,” Bain said.