Tag: Government

Cell Phone Tower Collapse Kills Three Including Firefighter

West Virginia State Police have released the names of two workers and a firefighter who were killed when two cellphone towers collapsed.
 
Lt. Michael Baylous on Sunday identified the workers as 32-year-old Kyle Kirkpatrick of Hulbert, Okla., and 27-year-old Terry Lee Richard Jr. of Bokoshe, Okla.

He identified the fallen firefighter as 28-old Michael Dale Garrett of Clarksburg, a member of the Nutter Fort Volunteer Fire Department.
 
Baylous said Kirkpatrick and Richard were working on a 300-foot cellphone tower Saturday when it collapsed in Clarksburg. Garrett was killed when a smaller cellphone tower weakened by the collapse also fell.
 
Two other workers suffered non-life threatening injuries.
 
The towers are owned by SBA Communications.
 
SBA Communications spokeswoman Lynne Hopkins said the company is saddened by the accident and is cooperating with investigators.

The West Virginia State Police are investigating the accident.
 

LISTEN: State Releases Freedom Industries' Spill Hotline Audio

The state Division of Homeland Security released audio Friday of Freedom Industries' employee Bob Reynolds notifying the state spill hotline that a…

The state Division of Homeland Security released audio Friday of Freedom Industries’ employee Bob Reynolds notifying the state spill hotline that a chemical was leaking at their Charleston location. The call was received at 12:05 p.m. on January 9.

Reynolds told the operator, identified later in the call only as Laverne, the Department of Environmental Protection was already on site.

“I heard about it about 15 minutes ago,” Reynolds told the operator when asked what time the leak occurred. The operator estimated the time to be about 11:40 a.m.

“All I can tell you is that they’ve discovered a hole in the tank and there’s material leaking out of the tank,” Reynolds said. “We’ve pumped as much out of the tank as we can so far and we’ve got a crew coming in to clean up the material in the dike.”

Reynolds described that material as MCHM.

“I think you probably want a real name for it,” he said.

“Uh, probably yea,” the operator responded.

“It’s crude methlycyclohexanemethanol,” Reynolds said.

“Uh, say again?” the operator responded. The two laughed.

Reynolds said he did not know how much of the chemical had leaked out of the tank and when asked if it was hazardous or toxic he replied, “No.”

“It’s right on the Elk River and right now the dike is containing the material so we don’t anticipate it going into the river,” Reynolds said.

Charles Town Casino Copes with Md. Competition

As competition increases from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, West Virginia casinos are losing customers.
 
     And the lost revenue is poking a hole in the state’s tax base and budget.
 
     Nowhere is that better exemplified than at Charles Town. When they first opened, business boomed beyond expectations, and tax revenue flowed into the state’s coffers.
 
     West Virginia’s two panhandles were situated to draw out-of-state dollars – the Northern Panhandle drew gamblers from Pennsylvania and Ohio, while the Eastern Panhandle, where Charles Town is located, drew bettors from Maryland, Virginia and the D.C. region.
 
     Pennsylvania’s foray into casino gambling weakened the northern casinos in Wheeling and Mountaineer Park, but Charles Town continued for a number of years to keep its monopoly on the D.C. market.
 
     That changed when Maryland legalized casino gambling.
 
 

Tests Show Presence of MCHM at Five W.Va. Schools

Tests conducted more than two weeks after a chemical spill tainted the water supply for 300,000 West Virginians show the presence of the chemical remains in five schools.
 
     The state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management on Friday released the results of water samples taken at 83 schools in five counties.
 
     The chemical that spilled Feb. 9 from Freedom Industries was present in tests at Andrew Heights Elementary, George Washington High School and John Adams Middle School in Kanawha County; Buffalo High School in Putnam County; and Lincoln County High School.
 
     The tests conducted Tuesday and Wednesday don’t detect levels of crude MCHM below 10 parts per billion, and 78 samples are listed as “non detected.” No results were released for samples taken at 24 other schools.
 

Update: Friday, January 31, 2014 at 5:30 p.m.

In a news release issued Friday afternoon, state Department of Education officials say they are working closely with schools whose water tested positive for MCHM and the West Virginia National Guard are conducting another round of flushing.

“It is important for students, parents and educators to understand that the five schools highlighted by the most recent round of testing were well below the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) recommended level, but were not yet at the more stringent screening level that the interagency team was directed to achieve beyond the CDC guidelines,” said West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Jim Phares.

The release state that this second round of flushing is to achieve a non-detect level, below 10 parts per billion, which is 100 times more rigorous than the 1 part per million screening level provided by the CDC for protecting public health.

The news release also states that hand sanitizer, bottled water and food preparation with bottled water will continue to be used in impacted county schools until the schools have been cleared below 10 parts per billion.
 

Two W.Va. Agencies Join Lawsuit Against Drug Company

Two West Virginia agencies are joining a lawsuit against an Ohio drug company, alleging its negligent practices have helped fuel the state’s pain pill abuse epidemic.
 
     The Department of Health and Human Resources and the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety recently signed on as plaintiffs in the attorney general’s lawsuit against Cardinal Health.
 
     West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey recused himself in August from the lawsuit filed by the office because his wife lobbies for the company in Washington, D.C.
 
     The suit was filed during former Attorney General Darrell McGraw’s last term. Morrisey defeated McGraw in the 2012 general election.
 
     The Charleston Gazette reports that outside lawyers handling the case will now report to the heads of the other departments and their agencies’ attorneys.
 

W.Va. PSC Orders Water Company to Continue Quality Reports

State utility regulators have ordered West Virginia American Water to continue providing quarterly reports on the quality of its service. The Public…

State utility regulators have ordered West Virginia American Water to continue providing quarterly reports on the quality of its service.
 
     The Public Service Commission’s order says the information will allow it to monitor whether the company’s response to a Jan. 9 chemical spill has any lasting impact on its distribution infrastructure in the Kanawha Valley.
 
     The PSC’s Consumer Advocate Division cited the spill when it requested the reports’ continuance last week.
 
     The reports contain statistical information about water line breaks, staffing levels, average response times to repair leaks and other service-related metrics.
 
     The PSC ordered the reports in 2011 in a case involving the company’s staffing levels. The reports were to run through the fourth quarter of 2013. Tuesday’s order extends the reports for another year.
 

Exit mobile version