Tank And Storage Law Watered Down In West Virginia

Just over a year after a chemical spill endangered the drinking water supply of 300,000 people in West Virginia, state lawmakers are scaling back regulations designed to protect the water supply from leaky storage tanks.

In response to the Elk River chemical spill, the legislature approved a measure last year regulating tanks that hold dangerous chemicals. But now, a new measure could reduce the number of tanks subject to these rules.

By a 78-21 tally in March, "the GOP-led House of Delegates supported pulling about 36,000 aboveground tanks out of a newly established state regulatory program. There was only one 'no' vote in a similar Senate vote," according to the Associated Press.

Under the new proposal, the rules would still apply to only 12,000 tanks, the report continued. Under the previous law, it applied to nearly 50,000, reports said.

Supporters of the deregulatory push say the previous rules were harmful to industry, while opponents said scaling back the rules could be harmful to the water supply.

Del. Nancy Guthrie, D-Kanawha, expressed disgust at the legislative change.

"And so now, we can all be known for the West Virginia House that just loves our dirty water," she said, per the report.

Del. John Shott, R-Mercer, said that the rules passed after the spill had gone too far.

"Now we found out, after the months that have passed, that we have jeopardized many people whose businesses or homes did not involve any risk at all," he said, per the report.

Industry lobbied strongly in favor of watering down the rules. "The bill had the backing of several industry groups, including the West Virginia Manufacturers Association, based in Charleston," the Wall Street Journal reported.

“This new legislation really narrows the focus of the regulations on the tanks that are by definition the ones that would present the most danger to drinking water supplies,” said Rebecca Randolph, president of the group, per the report.

Evan Hansen, president of Downstream Strategies, an environmental consulting group, said less drastic steps could have been taken to scale back the law. He said the new law deregulates above-ground tanks that have the potential to contaminate water.

“There were compromises that were possible that would have provided regulatory relief for thousands of tanks while still protecting the integrity of the act,” he said, per the report.

Hansen says the bill could ultimately exempt even more tanks from the rules.

"Owners of those 12,000 tanks have the ability to opt out of the regulations if they’re already being regulated by a different permit. And, if the tank owners do opt out, that means they may not be subject to regulations as stringent as those in the [law]," Think Progress reported, citing Hansen.

The legislation will also scale back the scrutiny that tanks faced under the previous law.

"Currently, West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection requires aboveground storage tanks located in zones of critical concern to be inspected once every year. Now, under the new bill, those tanks will be inspected once every three years," the report said.

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