West Virginia Gov. Earl Tomblin says water tests are encouraging after a chemical spill tainted the supply, but people are still being told not to drink or bath in the water. West Virginia American Water president Jeff McIntyre said the company is setting up a website and automatic call system to let customers know when flushing of the system can begin. He said that process will be done by “zones.”
Tomblin did not give a timetable Sunday for when people might be able to use the water again. But Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, of the West Virginia National Guard, did say that testing near the water treatment facility has consistently been below 1 part per million.
That’s a key step officials needed so that they can begin the next step of flushing the system.
About 300,000 people were told Thursday not to use the water after a chemical leaked from a plant into the Elk River and tainted the water supply.
It’s been nearly three days since a “do not use” water advisory was issued for more than 300,000 people in the Kanawha Valley, but now officials are saying the end may be in sight.
It took a team of chemists from the National Guard a full day to produce a method testing the amount of crude MCHM in the water at the contaminated treatment facility. The chemical is used in a coal washing process and leaked into the water supply Thursday morning from a storage tank along the Elk River.
Col. Greg Grant said the amount of chemical present is trending downward with each test, but must be consistently below 1 part per million for a 24 hour period before West Virginia American Water can begin to flush their piping system.
“What we’re looking at is a broad spectrum of data that gives us a composite look at this water over a period of time to make sure it’s safe,” he said at a press conference Saturday night, “and those data points are showing that we are moving in the right direction.”
Grant said his teams would collect more than 100 samples overnight from the treatment plant and throughout the system to increase the data set and give them more accurate information.
“These individual samples are like a puzzle piece. We have a bunch of puzzle pieces, but we don’t have the picture yet,” added West Virginia American Water President Jeff McIntyre.
An outside contractor has been hired to help expedite the testing process of these samples, a process they’ve narrowed down from 46 to 18 minutes.
McIntyre said it will still likely take days to flush the system even if they have the proper data set Sunday, but customers should not start flushing their own plumbing now.
McIntyre warned running your water will deplete the amount they are able to test and compromise the recovery efforts. Customers will be given detailed directions on how to handle the process at the appropriate time.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board says it will investigate a chemical spill in the Elk River that has contaminated the public water supply in nine counties.…
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board says it will investigate a chemical spill in the Elk River that has contaminated the public water supply in nine counties.
Board chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso said Saturday that the board wants to find out how a leak of such magnitude occurred, and how to prevent similar incidents in the future.
U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller says he’s pleased with the board’s quick response to his request for an investigation.
Thursday’s spill from a Freedom Industries facility in Charleston also is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Occupational and Safety Administration.
West Virginia American Water has told 300,000 people in the affected counties to not drink their tap water or use it for bathing, cooking and washing clothes.
Businesses in Charleston may soon be allowed to reopen, but West Virginia American Water customers will still have to wait- maybe as long as days- before the “do not use” advisory is lifted.
Kanawha Charleston Health Department Director Dr. Rahl Gutpa said the county health department will begin reviewing plans from businesses that can show they can safely reopen their doors.
He said they will have to find an alternative source of water to be approved and will go through onsite reviews for safety.
Adjutant General James Hoyer says the National Guard and a team of experts have created a standard methodology for testing water samples.
Friday, Hoyer said water samples were testing at 1.7 parts per million. The Centers for Disease Control says the water is safe for use and consumption at 1 part per million, but West Virginia American Water President Jeff McIntyre said they are not releasing Saturday’s testing sample results- at least not yet.
“We can collect all the samples we want, but the equipment that we run it through is very sophisticated and it takes time to run those samples,” McIntyre said. “So, we have a lot of samples that we’ve collected that we’ve not even had time to run.”
Each sample takes 20 minutes to test.
McIntyre said once his company can assure the water processed in the treatment plant is at the CDC approved level then they can begin flushing their water lines. Giving customers the closest thing to a timeline they’ve received yet, McIntyre said the flushing process will likely take days.
As far as the leak site itself, Mike Dorsey with the state Department of Environmental Protection said approximately 7,500 gallons of Crude MCHM leaked from a one inch hole in a storage tank, but they’re still not sure how the hole got there.
The DEP has set up booms in the river to collect any water that may still be leaching from the shoreline and have dug multiple interceptor trenches to collect any contaminated groundwater.
Credit Ashton Marra
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West Virginia American Water President Jeff McIntyre told members of the media it may take days to flush the entire water distribution system before people can resume using their water.
Dorsey said Freedom Industries- the company responsible for the contamination-is now cooperating fully.
“There’s a great deal more cooperation now than there was early on,” he said. “It’s a serious issue and it’s in everyone’s best interest to communicate well.”
There was a concern about the chemical continuing to move downriver, impacting the drinking water of more than just West Virginia American Water customers, but Dorsey said by the time the chemical reaches the Kanawha River and then eventually the Ohio River, he believes it will be too diluted to impact public health.
As Gov. Tomblin's state of emergency remains in effect, the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security & Emergency Management is ask asking residents…
As Gov. Tomblin’s state of emergency remains in effect, the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security & Emergency Management is ask asking residents of the nine affected counties to contact their local emergency management offices for information on available and safe water resources.
West Virginia American Water customers in Boone, Cabell, Clay, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam, and Roane countiesare urged NOT to ingest, cook, bathe, wash or boil water. Water in this coverage area is okayed ONLY for flushing and fire protection. The advisory comes as a result of a chemical spill of 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol from Freedom Industries, Inc.
Here’s a list of local emergency management offices for the counties affected:
Boone County – 304 369-9913
Cabell County – 304 743-5391
Clay County – 304 587-2019
Jackson County – 304 373-2208 or 304 372-2000
Kanawha County – 304 744-6843
Lincoln County – 304 824-3443
Logan County – 304 752-7662 or 304 752-8817 or Sharples VFD 304-369-2630
It was more than 24 hours after a chemical leak contaminated the drinking water of nine counties in West Virginia before the public heard from the company responsible.
Freedom Industries President Gary Southern started by apologizing to West Virginians who find themselves without water because of the incident at his business. He said the company has already begun the remediation process at their Charleston site and is taking extreme precautions to make sure no more of the chemical leaks into the water system.
In a prepared statement and in response to questions from the media, Southern said:
– The company discovered the leak at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday and began working to contain and remove it.
– The chemical contents of the leaking storage tank have been completely removed from the site. The company is now working to determine how much of it leaked from the tank into the dirt surrounding and ultimately the river.
– The remaining contaminated soil is in the process of being removed from the facility and taken to a storage area.
– Southern maintains the material is of low-toxicity and not harmful to aquatic life.
– The company has no estimated timeline for when the issue will be completely resolved.
Southern said he hopes to have more information about the amount of the chemical that leaked by tomorrow.
