Fort Mill school will resume Monday after chemical leak canceled classes
Flint Hill Elementary School will return to normal operations on Monday after pivoting in response to multiple chemical leaks at the nearby Silfab Solar facility last week.
The Fort Mill School District cited information from state leaders and environmental officials in its decision but said it will continue to monitor the situation.
About 300 gallons of potassium hydroxide spilled at Silfab on Tuesday. Then, on Thursday, Silfab reported a “small drip” of hydrofluoric acid from a tank valve that had started a week earlier.
Flint Hill sits adjacent to the solar cell manufacturing plant and closed on Thursday and Friday as a precaution.
Greg Basden, the plant manager, said the spills never presented a risk to the public. But state environmental officials ordered Silfab on Thursday to cease all operations until they could complete an investigation.
The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services and the EPA will begin their assessment on Monday, and SCDES will post their findings online. Silfab will remain closed while that process unfolds.
“The safety and health of our students and staff remains our top priority,” Fort Mill School District said in a press release Saturday. The district had also joined state leaders in calling for Silfab to close last week.
Parents and residents in the district have banded together in vocal opposition to the facility since before York County approved its construction in 2023.
For over a year, the district had largely remained quiet on the issue despite outcry from its families, refusing to take a firm stand against the facility being built next door to two planned schools. Flint Hill Elementary opened last fall, and Flint Hill Middle School will open this year.
That changed in February 2025 when a network of leading pediatric health specialists sent a letter to the district expressing concern over the types and quantities of chemicals used by Silfab. The letter warned children “are not exposed to hazards in the same ways or amounts as adults” and are “especially vulnerable to harmful exposures and subsequent negative brain and lung health effects.”
Fort Mill Schools hired an environmental health and safety firm in June to evaluate health risks posed by Silfab and help with ongoing monitoring.
