Mysterious blood-like liquid oozes from drainage pipe in South Carolina. What is it?

A report of a mysterious “unknown liquid” filling a ditch in Upstate South Carolina got stranger still when investigators encountered something resembling blood.

It was bright red, glassy and oozing from a drain pipe, photos show.

The discovery was made around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21, on Hamrick Street just outside Gaffney, Cherokee County Emergency Management officials said in a news release. Gaffney is about 100 miles northwest of Columbia.

“Upon arrival we found a red liquid had filled the ditch in front of a home,” county officials reported.

“Emergency Management began testing the liquid with various equipment. ... Then (firefighters) began a small damming and diking operation to contain the liquid from spreading any further.”

Those tests revealed it was not gas and wasn’t combustible, but was alkaline, acidic and corrosive — “creating a characteristic hazardous waste.”

So what was it?

“A non-toxic paint that made a mess and needed to be cleaned up,” the department concluded.

Details of how much paint was involved in “the spill” have not been released.

Investigators with the Gaffney Fire Department report they tracked down a source, but did not release the name of the company.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control joined the investigation and was “working with the company to have a cleanup contractor clean the area,” officials said.

This story was originally published February 23, 2024 at 7:26 AM with the headline "Mysterious blood-like liquid oozes from drainage pipe in South Carolina. What is it?."