The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is investigating after cleaning materials from a Milford car wash spilled into drains that emptied into the watercourse, turning a nearby stream green.
DEEP officials said their Emergency Response Unit responded to a report of a green substance in a stream in Milford. Investigators traced the substance back to a car wash on New Haven Avenue.
Milford fire officials confirmed that gallons of liquid wax spilled into a floor drain at a Shell gas station car wash on New Haven Avenue. The leak then spread through the drains to the watercourse.
NBC Connecticut spoke with Jason Herrera, who is the manager at the Best Hand Car Wash & Detail. Herrera said his team had no idea the spill was a problem until authorities came calling.
"So one of my guys spilled it out and it was easy for him to just rinse it off to go into the drainage, we didn’t find out until they called us so we came down here took care of it, we called the company, the environmental company to come and clean it up and they did," Herrera said.
He said he has spoken to his employees about what happened and they are looking into proper disposal techniques.
“I apologize wasn’t my intention I am doing everything in my power to clean it up you know with the company and I’m working with the city and the state of Connecticut to fix it," Herrera said.
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The business owner has hired a contractor to clean up the mess and will be responsible for the cost, DEEP said. The DEEP Permitting Enforcing Division and OSHA will follow up to determine if there were any violations.
