The city continues to send out alerts regarding the safety of tap water in Philadelphia following a chemical spill at the Delaware River last Friday. NBC10’s Lauren Mayk caught up with Mayor Jim Kenney to learn more about the city’s response.
"At this point, there's no problem with the water supply."
That's what Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney told NBC10 during a short sidewalk interview on Tuesday afternoon.
The mayor also said that he was satisfied with the City's response to a chemical spill that occurred on Friday in Bucks County.
The Democrat, in his second term in office, was in attendance at LOVE Park for a kickoff event for the Philly Celebrates Jazz month-long series of events.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
Confronted with questions about the City's response to the ongoing concerns over the drinkability of Philadelphia's tap water, the mayor expressed confidence that the water is clean, and explained that the test Philadelphia uses to ensure tap water is clean takes about six to eight hours.
"I don't think this is rocket science here. We kept the supply safe and we are moving forward," he said.
He argued that the City's response was intended to provide residents with as much information as possible and, out of an abundance of caution, suggest that anyone who had concerns over contamination in the city's water supply, to drink bottled water.
And, he acknowledged that there was obviously concern among residents that there could be issues with drinking water following a chemical spill.
"It's scary to have your water supply infected with some kind of chemical," said the mayor.
But, he noted, that the spill isn't akin to the tragedy that befell East Palestine, Ohio, following a train derailment that led to chemicals like benzene and naphthalene being released into the environment.
Here, Kenney said, he believes the substance - a latex emulsion product -- should dissipate quickly.
"We didnt want this to happen, It happened in another county and we are dealing with the effects of it," said Kenney.
When asked about how local stores saw a rush of customers seeking bottled water after the City's initial updates on the situation, Kenney pointed at "selfish" people causing the problem, not any issue in how municipal officials addressed the situation.
"We had a run on toilet paper back in COVID which makes no sense either. And, there's people buying ten cases of water. It's pretty selfish," said the mayor.
Kenney promised that the City would provide an update to this situation later Tuesday afternoon or evening, in an effort to "hopefully get this thing over with this week, if possible."
