Carroll Co. declares local emergency over acid use in Cana

Carroll County has declared a local emergency, over a business possibly using acid carelessly.

The DEQ says the business in Cana was using acid to remove valuable metals, such as gold, from dismantled computers. The DEQ told the County that it received a complaint about the business on October 1st. That complaint said the business was being careless in the way it operated, and that some of the acid may have been disposed of on-site.

A news release from the County says Emergency Services Director Joe Roma went to the business, and found more than 80 barrels of acid on trailers that were parked on the property, including unstable plastic barrels of suspected acid.

A team that included the Virginia Department of Emergency Services, DEQ, State Police, Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, Hillsville Fire Department, Cana Fire Department, Carroll County EMS, and the Commonwealth’s Attorney, then found the owner of the business. The team received permission for an additional search, and found nearly 300 chemical and gas filled containers, according to the news release.

Work is still being done to identify the chemicals in the containers.

Soil, water, and air samples have been sent for testing.

The EPA sent an on-site coordinator, who went to the site Monday. The EPA is expected to test the water and soil in the are where the barrels are today, and then move outward to test for groundwater contamination.

Clean-up is expected to take several days.

Investigators say the site had been in operation for several years without being reported, but did not name the business or its owner.

“Once someone reported the operation to the appropriate officials, quick actions have resulted. It is important to let the proper officials know of issues like this to avoid environmental dangers, human safety issues and to assist in cleaning up the Carroll County”, said County Administrator Gary Larrowe in the news release.