Seeking Reassurance Two Years After West Virginia Chemical Spill

Two years after a West Virginia chemical spill, communities are still seeking reassurance about the safety of their tap water. But state officials say that actions taken since the spill mean they are safer than ever before.

In January 2014, a chemical facility owned by Freedom Industries leaked the coal-processing chemical 4-methylcyclohexane methanol into the Elk River, leaving 300,000 people unable to use their tap water for about a week. The spill left locals ill with nausea, rashes, vomiting, and abdominal pain, according to a review by West Virginia health officials.

Two years later, communities are still looking for ways to keep their water safe.

This month, “a group of concerned citizens and action groups gathered in the state’s Capitol to learn more about how communities can protect their drinking water,” The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.

The West Virginia Rivers Coalition hosted the first of four forums focused on protecting drinking water resources in the state. Rahul Gupta, state health officer and commissioner for the Bureau for Public Health, spoke at the event.

“We encountered some unique challenges back in January of 2014. We were on the ground and dealt with a specific substance that we didn’t know what to do with,” he said.

Gupta was optimistic about actions taken since the spill.

“We are now one of the strongest states in requiring source water protection plans, starting July 1 of this year. In most states, it’s voluntary. As that goes forward, it is allowing utilities, both large and small, to put their information in and get that information — where are those tanks, what are the substances in those tanks, and to be able to get that information to those utilities and figure out those emergency plans and be able to have public input and planning,” he said.

“As the old adage goes, ‘failing to prepare is preparing to fail.’ Water and sanitation infrastructure issues are not exclusive to West Virginia. It’s a national issue, because the majority of the infrastructure is from the turn of the last century, or after World War II; the timing for that is running out, and you’re seeing that in terms of spills and failings,” he said.

How has the state prepared for future disasters?

“The state has identified 126 water systems so far that will require a source water protection plan, and has completed plans for more than a dozen of them, Gupta said. The [state] has a plan template that each water system will individualize, Gupta said, and that will identify potentially significant sources of contamination, including things like chemical storage tanks, rail yards, landfills and mines. The plans will include guidance on prioritizing threats, notifying the public, planning for water shortages and coordinating emergency response,” the report said.

For similar stories, visit Water Online’s Source Water Contamination Solutions Center.