A video of photos from Rumford, Maine, shows brown snow that fell in the area on Tuesday after a paper mill malfunction. Town officials said that while it is non-toxic, residents should avoid having direct skin contact and to not ingest it.
RUMFORD, Maine – Recent rounds of winter weather have been impacting portions of the Northeast and New England, but residents in one Maine town were greeted with a peculiar sight on Tuesday – brown snow.
The unusual incident took place in Rumford, about 80 miles north of Portland. Officials said a malfunction at a local paper mill sent spent black liquor into the air, causing the snow to turn brown or tan.
This photo shows the ground in Rumford, Maine, coated with brown and tan snow after a malfunction at a paper mill on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.
(Corbin Wardwell via Storyful / FOX Weather)
Black liquor is a byproduct of the paper production process.
Town officials said the discolored snow was mostly confined to areas near the mill and stressed that it was non-toxic. However, with the pH of the substance being 10, it’s classified as a skin irritant.
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This photo shows the ground in Rumford, Maine, coated with brown and tan snow after a malfunction at a paper mill on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.
(Corbin Wardwell via Storyful / FOX Weather)
The school district was notified to let students know not to play with the brown snow, and pet owners were advised to keep their furry friends away from it as well.
Additional testing was conducted later in the day, and those snow samples were found to have a pH of 8 or less.
“Based on guidance from (the Department of Environmental Protection), we are confident that the public safety concerns are minimal at this time,” officials said in a Facebook post. “In the meantime, out of an abundance of caution please avoid ingesting or direct skin contact with the brown snow.”
More rounds of rain and winter weather moved into the region Wednesday, which was helping to wash away the unusual snow from residents’ homes and property.
This photo shows the ground in Rumford, Maine, coated with brown and tan snow after a malfunction at a paper mill on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024.
(Corbin Wardwell via Storyful / FOX Weather)