How a foaming agent contaminated water in Grand Prairie

GRAND PRAIRIE — A foaming agent used to fight fires contaminated the city’s water supply, prompting an urgent alert to avoid tap water as schools closed and thousands of residents scrambled for bottled water and answers.
At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, city officials said they do not know how long the advisory will remain in place and are waiting for clearance from the state’s environmental regulators. Mayor Ron Jensen encouraged residents to exercise caution but not panic.
“This is affecting a lot of people’s lives. We want everything back to normal,” Jensen said. “But that’s not our main goal. Our main goal is to fix this as soon as possible.”
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Earlier Wednesday, a line of cars stretched a mile outside Lone Star Park, a horse racing track, as residents waited for free cases of water, a limit of one per car. A nearby Cost Plus store sold several hundred cases by early afternoon, an employee said.
The contamination affected an estimated 60,000 residents in Grand Prairie who live north of Interstate 20. City officials told those residents to avoid drinking the water, but also to avoid bathing, cooking, brushing teeth or washing dishes and clothes in tap water. The water is also unsafe for animals.
“Do not try and treat the water yourself,” the city warned on social media, explaining that boiling water would not help.
City officials began receiving reports of foamy tap water late Tuesday afternoon and worked with state environmental officials to pinpoint the source: a foam used to extinguish a fire earlier in the day at an industrial warehouse.
Firefighters used the foam to help penetrate the blaze, complicated by hoarder-like conditions at the warehouse in the Great Southwest Industrial District, Jeff Baldwin, the city’s assistant fire chief, said.
A backflow caused the contaminant to enter the water supply, Baldwin said. Firefighters are investigating why a valve at the warehouse did not detect the backflow. City officials quickly determined the contamination was not intentional, however.
“This was not poison,” Jensen said. “It was not sabotage.”
The firefighting foam that leaked into the water comes from the brand Micro-Blaze and touts itself as environmentally friendly. According to its website, it does not contain PFAS, a group of synthetic chemicals known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily in the environment.
Grand Prairie switched to the more environmentally friendly foam about a year-and-a-half ago, Jensen said, after a massive blaze broke out at a plastics plant in the city, burning for 23 hours before firefighters were able to extinguish it.
Ricky Richter, a spokesperson for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, declined to say whether fines could be levied against the warehouse, at the 900 block of Avenue S.
“TCEQ’s investigation is ongoing and we will continue to provide oversight throughout the duration of the event,” Richter said.
Initial tests revealed some toxicity in the water, Jensen said, but it was not severe enough to turn off the city’s water supply.
Foaming agents can give water a bitter, oily taste, cloudy appearance and odor. High dosages can cause gastrointestinal issues if ingested. City officials said they have not received any reports of illnesses, nor has there been an increase in the number of emergency calls.
Todd Anderson, a professor of environmental chemistry at Texas Tech University told The Dallas Morning News that without knowing how much Micro-Blaze Out entered the water supply, it’s difficult to say how much an individual potentially ingested. But, he said, it is reasonable to assume that it’s not enough to cause significant harm.
According to Micro-Blaze Out’s safety data sheet, how much is needed to kill an organism like a water flea within 48 hours is very high — a little over 10,000 mg per liter.
While there’s no information regarding toxicity for humans, Anderson said it’s likely because “it’s so non-toxic that it would take so much of [Micro-Blaze Out] to cause toxicity, it’s assumed you would never be exposed to that amount at some point.”
Some residents did report cloudy water Wednesday, though.
Waiting in line for bottled water at Lone Star Park, Brandon McQuirter, 29, said he learned of the contamination when his father called him Wednesday morning. He turned on the tap water at his home north of I-20 and noticed that it foamed. When he flushed the toilet, it appeared to bubble.
“I’m kind of nervous about it, just trying to get fresh water so I can cook,” McQuirter said. “Trying to figure out how I can bathe, wash my hands.”
At a nearby Cost Plus store, Joe Saldivar loaded 10 cases of bottled water into the back seat of his truck. Saldivar lives south of I-20 in Grand Prairie, outside the contaminated zone, but he said he and his wife decided to stock up in case the contamination zone expands.
“In case this spreads to the entire city, we want to be safe,” said Saldivar, 86.
Grand Prairie had already distributed more than 275,000 bottles of water by late Wednesday afternoon, and the city is continuing to hand out bottled water donated by area stores. City employees are delivering water to elderly and homebound residents.
City officials also said they have flushed the water supply with about 2 million gallons of water and will continue flushing the system to clear out the foam. Grand Prairie could issue a less-restrictive boil water advisory once the water is deemed safer, Jensen said.
The notice caused a flurry of closures Wednesday. Grand Prairie ISD announced its campuses would close “out of an abundance of caution,” and the city shuttered numerous recreation centers and park restrooms and water fountains.
The school district announced Wednesday evening that schools would remain closed Thursday.
Many restaurants north of I-20 closed, although some fast food chains brought in water from other locations to remain open.
Francisco Vargas, who owns Guanataco in Grand Prairie, surveyed his empty dining room during the usually busy lunch hour. Vargas said he learned about the contamination Tuesday night, then stayed up until 2 in the morning searching for more information. Shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday, he received a notice from the city that he would need to close for the day. His water did not appear cloudy.
Vargas, who opened the Mexican restaurant 11 years ago on Belt Line Road, said he is worried how long the issue will last. On a typical Wednesday, he said the restaurant brings in $3,500 to $4,000 at lunch and $5,000 more at dinner.
“This is how I feed my family,” he said. “It’s how I make my living. This will hurt.”
Residents should call 972-237-8400 or visit the city’s website, gptx.org, if they have questions or concerns.
Staff writer Miriam Fauzia contributed to this report.