Kaolin Spill Being Investigated

Highway 1 at Reedy Creek (Day Two of the spill)

Wrens, Georgia - A pipeline owned and operated by KaMin LLC broke around Sunday afternoon, sending several tons of kaolin into Reedy Creek.  Kaolin is substance known in the Southern United States as "white chalk", "white dirt", "white clay", and in other areas as "china clay"

The rupture of the pipe, which is about a foot around and seven-and-a-half miles long, was reported by residents around 2:30 Sunday according to the Savannah Riverkeeper, an environmental group.  The repairs to the pipe and stop the leak are already being conducted.

The estimate of "several tons" of kaolin being spilled was made by the group's science adviser Frank Carl

"It appears at this time the pipeline failed near the Highway 17 bridge and ran downhill into Reedy Creek," KaMin's vice-president Doug Carter said. "At the time of the pipe failure we notified [Georgia's] Environmental Protection Division of the spill and together with the Department of Natural Resources have developed a monitoring plan for the creek from our plant south to Keysville."

In October, approximately 12-thousand fish died along 18 miles of Brier Creek, which is connected to Reedy Creek and is the source of some city's water supply.  It's suspected that the cause is related to the area's kaolin facilities, but there is no definitive link and state regulators have yet to take action on it.

At the moment there is no press release from KaMin LLC about the incident and calls to the company have not been answered.

Here is some video from one of the Savannah Riverkeepers.





Update: There still been no calls returned from the company concerning the spill, but there is now a press release on the website.