Posted on 11.27.18
Daycare remains closed after gas spill from underground tanks at nearby gas station
Source: http://www.wistv.com, November 26, 2018
By: Jason Raven
For the first time in 38 years, Bonnie Saville’s daycare isn’t filled with children.
Instead, it’s surrounded by fences and clean up crews in respirators.
“It’s very devastating to see all the equipment and all the work being done,” Saville said.
She’s the owner of Play Pals Daycare on Dothan Road. Last Monday, the daycare was evacuated after a strong gas odor was detected. A staff member was taken to the hospital.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said there was a petroleum release from an underground storage tank at a BP gas station nearby on Broad River Road.
“We’re just a victim of circumstance,” Saville said.
Since last week, the daycare has been closed. “It’s hard to think you have so many staff members put out of work,” she said.
Parents scrambling to find a new daycare for the 130 kids that attended Play Pals. “You have so many children and parents – their lives have been interrupted.”
Crews with the remediation contractor, Enviro-Test Services, said the spill is contained. They will be cleaning it all up for the foreseeable future.
Saville said it’s too early to tell what will happen with Play Pals. “I would only hope that whatever has to be done is done as quickly. So we can have some piece of mind and closure.”
