DEPEW, N.Y. (WIVB) — Scajaquada Creek looked more like tomato soup than a waterway Tuesday afternoon. The mystery of how it got that way had people in Depew talking.
“At first quick glace I was like ‘oh my god, it looks like blood’, obviously that’s not it but what is it?,” said Chris Peters who lives in Depew.
According to the DEC, runoff from a leaking trailer full of red-dyed mulch went into the creek. It came from the Walden Ave. business, Superior Pallets Co.
The company told News 4 it was dyeing mulch on site Monday, about 300 feet from the creek. The company just moved to Walden Ave. from Blasdell and said they’ve never had an accident like this before.
The dye is called Mulch Magic Ruby Red.
“This is extremely strong and extremely red,” said Peters. “I’ve been here seven years and I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Makayla Paradowski and her boyfriend Alex Sagun drove from Buffalo to see the red creek.
“It’s definitely picture worthy,” said Paradowski. “It’s not something we’ll probably ever see again. I think there will be a lot of people coming to take pictures of it.”
News 4 watched as drivers pulled over on Transit Rd. and walkers paused to take a picture. One man even brought out his drone to capture the view from above.
“Definitely something new to see around here,” said Sagun.
Along with amazement, came concern.
“Honestly, it’s kind of scary,” said Peters. “My kids go down to the end of my street and like to play in this creek. They’re not going anywhere near it for a long time now.”
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This drone video was sent in by Jason Agnello.Superior Pallets told News 4 the dye isn’t toxic to humans or animals. They are re-evaluating their strategy to prevent an accident from happening again.
The DEC told us staff members inspected the creek and found no adverse effects on the fish downstream.
According to the DEC, the spill was contained by 5:00 p.m. but they continued to collect samples well into the evening. It will continue to monitor the stream and investigate the accident. If warranted, enforcement actions will be pursued.
