Silfab plant to remain closed through weekend

The Silfab solar plant will stay closed for now.

Silfab officials confirmed with WCCB they will continue to halt operations through the weekend as local, state, and federal officials investigate two alleged spills earlier this week.

“It’s kind of confusing for us,” Faith Gregory said. “And I always been wondering why do we have to miss school?”

It’s been a confusing week for Gregory and many others living near the Silfab solar plant. The incidents resulted in an emergency meeting of York County officials Friday morning and a protest that afternoon.

“Why did Silfab not tell the school if they’re telling their employees that there’s a danger?” Fort Mill resident Scott Jensen said. “How is that not illegal?”

The county and state officials say around 300 gallons of potassium hydroxide spilled out of the plant on Tuesday. On Thursday, another spill was reported, prompting the Fort Mill School District to cancel class for the rest of the week.

The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services sent this letter to Silfab to immediately cease all operations, pending an investigation. Silfab complied, stopping operations Thursday and Friday.

In a statement to WCCB Friday night, the company says they will pause production through the weekend, but Silfab employees will be on site for non-production activities. Before that decision was made, Silfab addressed the media to give their side.

“In handling with tanks and piping, it’s not unusual to, even after testing, to see very small drips,” Silfab director Greg Basden said.

The Silfab director says they alerted the county of the 300 gallons of potassium hydroxide that leaked, which was stopped but still needs to be reported due to standard emergency protocols.

“It was 99.99% water, very highly diluted potassium hydroxide,” Basden said.

Both the county and the company say it posed no threat to the public or employees. SIlfab says Thursday’s report of a spill actually stemmed from a minor leak of hydrofluoric acid last week of one drop per hour.

It’s unclear who reported that on Thursday, but Silfab officials say they have proof of trespassing on their property and believe those trespassers are leaking false information.

“I have personnel that have photographs of a drone hovering in this area, and that’s likely where the information came from,” Basden said.

There’s been no proof on either incident of a danger to the public. Both the EPA and the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services are expected to be on site Monday for inspections.