Toxic water in Kanawha, Boone, Putnam, Lincoln, Logan, Clay, Roane,Jackson county or the Culloden area of Cabell (Charleston: 2014, lawyers)
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I know I am reposting this, but I know there are several posters in this region and I want to get this out. The water is not safe. It cannot be used for anything other than using the toilet.
Quote:
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Heath Harrison, Kallie Cart, Rick Lord) – Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency Thursday and residents in eight West Virginia counties were told not to use their water due to a chemical leak.
West Virginia American Water has issued a public notice for their customers to not use their water, and the notice has now expanded to eight counties.
Kanawha, Boone, Putnam, Lincoln, Logan, Clay, Roane and Jackson counties were affected. The Culloden area of Cabell County was also also affected.
"West Virginians in the affected service areas are urged NOT to use tap water for drinking, cooking, washing or bathing," Tomblin said in a news release. "Right now, our priorities are our hospitals, nursing homes, and schools. I've been working with our National Guard and Office of Emergency Services in an effort to provide water and supplies through the county emergency services offices as quickly as possible."
Authorities are advising not to rush to get water. I would recommend you do rush. Water supplies go fast in disasters like this. If you do not have water try contacting a hospital.
I'm a WVAW customer in Putnam County and this sucks big time for us. There's no definite answer on how long this will last and I just received a call that said do not use the water for any purpose! Lawyers are going to have a heyday with this one when all's said and done. I'm going to hook back up to my well water if this isn't resolved by morning.
I'm a WVAW customer in Putnam County and this sucks big time for us. There's no definite answer on how long this will last and I just received a call that said do not use the water for any purpose! Lawyers are going to have a heyday with this one when all's said and done. I'm going to hook back up to my well water if this isn't resolved by morning.
I have no clue what caused this but heads should roll.
Wasn't there a chemical spill back in the 60s or 70s in the Kanawha River, with carbon tetrachloride? I haven't been through the area for decades now, but I remember a chemical smell for a long time afterward. Maybe that was just the industry that was still there.
Wasn't there a chemical spill back in the 60s or 70s in the Kanawha River, with carbon tetrachloride? I haven't been through the area for decades now, but I remember a chemical smell for a long time afterward. Maybe that was just the industry that was still there.
How would this spill relate to that one?
In both cases corrupt Charleston politicians are to blame but god help these companies if the politicboros don't have water. If all of wv didn't have water and they did no big deal but when their stupidity and inconpotence goes back to haunt them too they get upset for the inconvenience.
It would be interesting if FMC is somehow related to the company responsible for this spill.
edit: After reading closer, I see that the one in 1977 was not a spill so much as the company was permitted to dump 800 lbs of Carbon Tetrachloride per day. The EPA in cahoots with the local politicians allowed that.
The Legislative Session started Wednesday in Charleston but the officials did not meet today due to the water problems. That may or may not be a good thing for this company. I wouldn't think it would be in their best interest to have that many elected officials in Charleston at this time.
W.Va. Gov. Issues State of Emergency for 9 Counties, Water Ban for 100,000+ The link here mentions that the chemical may still be leaking or leeching into the Elk River at this time and that the leak may have been ongoing for some time before the leak was discovered. A press conference is scheduled for 10:30am Friday for an update to the situation.
At least at this time, where I live in Putnam county, we receive our water from Hurricane City Water and we have been told that our water is fine because the water is pulled from the Hurricane Reservoir.
Kind of makes you wonder if the chemical plants were located next to rivers for the water supply or as a means to get rid of unwanted chemicals. Maybe both.
I have no clue what caused this but heads should roll.
After reading the Charleston Gazette article today, I concur. Maybe the extreme cold weather was a factor. But, the company should have noticed a leak of that magnitude long before the neighborhood did. Some employee should have been walking the tank farm at regular intervals, some alarm should have gone off when the liquid level dropped, or something. Apparently a large amount leaked before anyone caught it. Has someone seen a volume estimate anywhere?
The water company was probably correct that their charcoal filters would handle it, if it hadn't been such a large amount. Most likely when the initial announcement was made, the water was deemed safe. But later, the chemical started breaking through, or else the officials got a better handle on the amount that was continuing to leak into the river and they knew that breakthrough was inevitable and they changed their minds.
I would not worry too much about longterm damage, loss of property value, dead fish, and half a dozen other things online comments have been wailing about. They will stop the leak, river flow will continuously dilute the contaminate, the water lines will get flushed out. The fact that they said "do not use the water" does not mean that the water is actually toxic. It means that it may or may not be safe to drink or use. They know there is a contaminant in it, and prudent and most correct thing to do is tell people "Don't use it." Once they know there is some unwanted chemical in the water supply, there are only 2 choices for announcements:
1. Don't use it or Don't use it except for certain specific and limited uses.
2. There's something in there but it's harmless so go ahead and use the water as you normally would.
Obviously, they can't guarantee Choice #2, that it's perfectly safe, so they have to go with the Choice #1 because that is the only correct action.
Major hassle, inconvenience, and expense: Yes. Huge environmental disaster: Seems unlikely. People will just have to do whatever it takes to ride it out.
I saw this on Good morning america and all i could think is why would there be a chemical plant allowed to be upstream from the biggest water supply in the east coast?
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