BRUNSWICK, Ga. — State fire officials and inspectors were on the scene Tuesday of the massive chemical plant fire in coastal Georgia that caused an evacuation this weekend.
While they investigate the cause, the Environmental Protection Agency is working to determine the environmental impact.
"It was redder than red. It was real thick, and it was gushing out," said Larry Smith, who lives right near the Pinova plant.
Smith saw the massive plume of smoke right over his house.
He spent the night at the Red Cross shelter and headed back home after the state of emergency was lifted, but he still has some concerns.
"We know it was powerful chemicals and it was time to go," said Smith.
According to a Glynn County Commission update, the EPA put up seven air quality monitors around the area and left them overnight.
No levels were registered to call for public safety concerns.
While that initial testing revealed the air is safe, a watershed specialist for the Altamaha River Keeper has some concerns about the water nearby.
"The closer to the discharge site, the greater the impact because it's going to become more and more dilute the further it gets away from it," said Watershed Specialist Maggie Van Cantfort.
Van Cantfort says fire officials told her they put booms out to absorb some of the chemical run-off into the water as best they could.
The City of Brunswick says the EPA is monitoring water run-off and continuing to check on air quality. It could take weeks before that report is released.
The river keeper is hoping something can be done proactively to prevent more damage to the environment.
"It's definitely a concern of ours that this is the 3rd industrial site incident in Glynn County in the past five months where run-off from the industrial sites during an accident has made it into the waterways," said Cantfort.
A hose was connected to the fire hydrant all day Tuesday and a firetruck was on the property.
Glynn County officials report the site will continue to be monitored 24/7.