Hydraulic fluid was released into the Allegheny River from Braeburn Alloy Steel in Lower Burrell on Monday afternoon, prompting warnings to downriver water suppliers, according to emergency officials.

Two passersby reported seeing the sheen along the Westmoreland shore of the river, and Lower Burrell firefighters responded around 3 p.m., fire Chief Brennan Sites said. The spill was contained as of about 5:45 p.m.

There no known immediate dangers to public water supplies, Sites said. No visible impacts on wildlife were seen.

The hydraulic fluid came from two containment tanks totaling more than 7,000 gallons and an underground storage pit, Sites said. One tank holds dirty hydraulic fluid while the other is for clean hydraulic fluid.

“They have a containment center that goes around those tanks. There was product in the containment center,” Sites said. “The running speculation is that that containment center didn’t hold and there’s a drain that goes out to the spillway and that’s how it got in there.”

The fluid entered the water just upriver of the Natrona dam. It was seen 50 to 75 yards upstream, and, after going over the dam, as far downriver as the Tarentum Bridge, Sites said.

Multiple departments, including those from New Kensington, Arnold and Murrysville, came to assist, as did the Westmoreland County hazardous materials team and state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

They worked to find its source so it could be contained, Sites said.

The cause of the leak was not known. The state Department of Environmental Protection will investigate.

Braeburn Alloy was not operating Monday after a steel furnace explosion Jan. 22. One man died and two other workers were hurt, one seriously. The federal Occupation Safety and Health Administration is investigating that incident.

It was not known if there was any connection between the explosion and the fluid leak.

“There shouldn’t have been any more processing,” Sites said. “That (the fluid in the tanks) would have been product that was there previously.”

The Municipal Authority of the City of New Kensington’s intakes from the river, the closest to the spill downriver on the Westmoreland County side, remained open, according to Jim Matta, the authority’s manager.

“We are monitoring the river and our intake very closely. We don’t have any problems at this time,” he said Monday afternoon. “We’re monitoring it and keeping an eye on it so it doesn’t get into our intake and into our system.”

In Tarentum, borough Manager Dwight Boddorf said the water was safe. The borough was closely monitoring the situation and will immediately notify residents if that changes.

“We have increased chemical analysis at the water plant as a precaution. To the best of our knowledge, the spill is contained on the Westmoreland side of the river at this time,” he said. “Our water tanks contain several hours to days worth of pre-treated water that can be utilized if necessary.”

Braeburn Alloy brought in a cleanup company to prevent any more fluid from getting into the river overnight, Sites said.

Lowe Road, which runs along the river, was closed while crews responded to the spill. People who were attempting to fish were evacuated.

Sites could not say whether or not it is safe to fish the river.

“I would recommend not coming down here for a day or two anyway because there’s going to be investigations happening,” he said. “I don’t think they’re going to be able to fish regardless if it’s safe or not.”

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