After Elk River Spill, West Virginia Examines Water Protection

West Virginia policymakers are facing an end-of-year deadline on their review of new water protection laws.

The review was mandated after a major spill in January, when Freedom Industries, a chemical facility, leaked a coal-processing chemical 4-methylcyclohexane methanol into the Elk River.

In hopes of preventing future spills, lawmakers mandated a review of what's on the books.

“Now that we’ve got this piece of legislation … we can take a look at some of the best systems to see if we can mirror that,” said lawmaker Nancy Guthrie, who sits on the panel.

“One of the biggest problems is we have this hodge-podge of [water and sewer] systems throughout the state. Some of them work fine. Some of them don’t work at all.”

The review panel, the Public Water System Supply Study Commission, held its first meeting in September.

The contents of the study could have a big impact on public utilities.

"Under the new law, the commission must review source water protection plans submitted by public utilities, examine the law’s effectiveness, and study the availability of funding for projects that set up alternative water sources in the event of a chemical spill.

The commission also must review recommendations in a U.S. Chemical Safety Board report issued after the 2008 Bayer CropScience blast in Institute that killed two workers and injured eight others," the report said.

Utilities of all size will be examined in the review. "While the January spill contaminated water for customers of West Virginia American Water, which is the largest drinking-water supplier in the state, smaller water utilities also pose a risk," the Charleston Gazette reported, citing commission members.

The Elk River chemical spill spurred public outrage. "Some people organized, carried signs and lobbied at the capital since the Jan. 9 spill occurred just as legislators were returning to Charleston for the legislative session," the Wheeling News-Register recently reported.

"One freezing night, hundreds gathered at the state Capitol for a vigil to honor water," West Virginia Rivers Coalition Executive Director Angie Rosser said in the report.

The spill is part of a debate this fall at the EPA over whether there should be more chemical disclosures requirements for industry, including fracking companies.

"The Association of Public Health Laboratories pointed to concerns about chemical spills in general, including a January spill of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol into West Virginia's Elk River," Bloomberg BNA reported.

"It took days for officials to realize that polyglycol ethers also were part of the spill, because laboratories did not know to test for them," the report said, citing the association.

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