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by DYLAN NOLAN
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“Flint Hill Engine Two, priority one – chemical leak or spill at 7149 Logistics Lane.”
According to dispatch call recordings and the recollections of first-hand witnesses, an emergency response has been initiated to a reported chemical spill at the Silfab Solar manufacturing facility in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Scott Jensen, a resident of the community abutting the facility and a member of activist group Citizens Alliance for Government Integrity (CAGI) was present as first responders arrived. Jensen obtained images of leaks of potassium hydroxide from a Silfab Solar employee who told Jensen the corrosive chemical flowed into the retention pond adjacent to the manufacturing plant.
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Jensen recounted a recent conversation with first responders at they prepared to address the spill.
“I talked to one of the firemen and he said the hazmat crews are on their way,” Jensen told FITSNews.
Jensen said that while he couldn’t assess the extent of the spill himself because he was too far away from the part of the facility where it occurred, he was provided images and had conversations with a facility employee that led him to believe the spilled chemicals had made it into the drainage pond bordering the plant.
Jensen said “from the pictures I saw, and from the employee I spoke with, the chemicals are leaking into the retaining ponds.”
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More shocking photos of the #SilfabSolar chemical spill.
— Caitlin (@CaitlinYorkSC) March 3, 2026
The chemicals apparently entered the storm drains, as well as the on-site retention pond, which drains into the watershed our community relies on. @fitsnews pic.twitter.com/oQeuqwUinA
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According to an email sent to parents of children attending the Flint Hill Elementary school – which York County recently constructed next to the manufacturing facility – 1,530 gallons of the potassium hydroxide were released, however the facility’s retention pool captured all but 30 gallons of the spill.
“The remaining 30 gallons of Potassium Hydroxide are being mitigated by a York County Hazmat team and private contractors,” the email informs parents.
Silfab Solar director of operations Greg Basden addressed the spill in a statement to the media.
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“Silfab Solar can confirm the accidental release of no more than 300 gallons water containing .03 percent of potassium hydroxide at our Fort Mill facility today,” Basden said in his statement (.pdf). “We notified York County emergency management per protocol, and they responded immediately.”
Basden said the situation “is under control,” adding that Silfab Solar is “working with our local emergency services and there is no danger to public safety.”
Silfab’s statement alleges a spill ten-times the volume reported to parents in the email sent by school officials, and reflects an updated version of the firm’s original statement which made no mention of the volume of liquid accidentally released.
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RELATED | YORK COUNTY WINS SILFAB SOLAR LEGAL BATTLE
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Silfab Solar has been at the center of contentious litigation surrounding its operations and York County’s issuance of permits to the facility.
In a February ruling circuit court judge G.D. Morgan, Jr. dismissed a lawsuit filed by adjacent property owner Dennis Floyd Bivins against York County officials, rejecting claims that the county improperly allowed construction to proceed despite a Board of Zoning Appeals decision deeming solar panel production incompatible with “light industrial” zoning.
Bivins has signaled plans to appeal the dismissal, as multiple other cases move forward, including challenges to state environmental permits and a zoning violation suit brought by CAGI against Silfab and York county.
Count on FITSNews to continue to track the latest developments in this ongoing story.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
(Via: Travis Bell)
Dylan Nolan is the director of special projects at FITSNews. He graduated from the Darla Moore school of business in 2021 with an accounting degree. Got a tip or story idea for Dylan? Email him here. You can also engage him socially @DNolan2000.
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3 comments
These nut job neighbors need to leave this company alone. .03% Get a life
And to think if it were an oil pipeline spewing untold thousands of oil, FITS wouldn’t have even batted an eye. Drill baby drill!
Of course, Fits didn’t give two shits about the Colleton County community as they pushed for the legislature to pave the way for a gas plant to be built where a coal plant used to stand that already left lasting marks on the area. But they’ll march lockstep with MAGA moms to protest a solar plant.