AFLEX, Ky. — Six drums filled with a dangerous chemical were discovered Wednesday afternoon in Aflex, according to Pike County Emergency Services Director Doug Tackett. County and state officials are looking for the dumpers.

Jim Blackburn, a foreman with Kinzer Drilling, said he was contacted after the drums were found, as he is a member of the Pike County HazMat, or Hazardous Materials, team.

“I saw the drums, and there was a skull-and-crossbones symbol on them,” Blackburn said. “I immediately called Doug.”

When the drums were found, one had been tampered with and was leaking, Tackett said.

“Two of our guys immediately suited up [in protective HazMat apparel] and got samples from each of the drums.”

The HazMat team obtained a specialized device, a HazMat ID, from their headquarters in Paintsville, Ky. to test the material in the drums. The substance proved to be tetrachloroethylene, a chemical used as a heavy degreaser and in dry cleaning and to etch glass, Tackett said.

“We realized this was a very dangerous material, and immediately notified the Division of Solid Waste, the Kentucky Office of Emergency Management and the Environmental Protection Agency,” Tackett said.

The chemical is extremely hazardous, exposure to skin or breathing fumes from tetracholoethylene could cause serious health problems.

Tackett said it is not yet known how long the drums had been at the site, but it did not appear to have been an extended period of time. He also had no motive for tampering with the barrels, as they were clearly marked as containing a toxic substance.

“We will certainly be looking for whoever dumped this,” Tackett said. “If we find the responsible party, they will be responsible for the cost of the clean up, as well as the cost of having all the personnel who have had, and will continue to have to work at this location.” He added that cost would be in addition to any fines and/or sentences connected to the crime.

He explained that the state will make a decision whether the spill will be cleaned by a local contractor or by Superfund, an environmental program established to address abandoned hazardous waste sites.

Charges could be brought against those who dumped the drums as well as anyone who tampered with them.

The area where the drums were found is an illegal dump; various types of trash are strewn across an area of several hundred yards. Old appliances, furniture and garbage litter the area, along with detritus from deer hunters who leave the unwanted parts of the animals to rot along side the trash.

The Belfry Volunteer Fire Department furnished an ATV to assist Tackett and his team.