State police are investigating abuse allegations at a nonprofit Romney center that serves children with developmental disabilities.
The state removed 24 children from the Potomac Center last week. The move came after upper management reported the allegations to the Department of Health and Human Resources.
The children lived in three residences on the center’s campus. They have been taken to other facilities across the state.
DHHR Secretary Karen Bowling says some employees at the center subjected children to what she calls “inhumane and degrading treatment.”
Details of the alleged abuse haven’t been released.
Potomac Center CEO Rick Harshbarger says he was devastated when he heard the allegations. He says the center is cooperating with the investigation.
Tag: Government
W.Va. Ethics Panel to Redo Meeting After Violation
The West Virginia Ethics Commission is redoing its December meeting because of a mistake that resulted in an open meetings violation. The commission has…
The West Virginia Ethics Commission is redoing its December meeting because of a mistake that resulted in an open meetings violation.
The commission has scheduled a special meeting for Jan. 21 to revisit all the items on December’s agenda.
Executive Director Joan Parker said Thursday that the commission forgot to post a notice of the meeting on the secretary of state’s website.
West Virginia’s Open Meetings Act requires state agencies to file a notice of any meeting with the secretary of state for publication in the weekly State Register. The register is posted on the office’s website.
Parker says the commission’s mistake is an opportunity to educate other governing bodies about rectifying inadvertent violations of the Open Meetings Act.
End of Outage May Be in Sight for Water Customers, Businesses
John Kaiser of Dunbar has been without water since Thursday. No dishes, no laundry, no shower just like 300,000 other West Virginians.
But Sunday, you could say, was a better day for Kaiser. Sunday one of his three Kanawha County restaurants—a Steak Escape connected to a gas station on Corridor G—was allowed to reopen.
“You had to submit a plan to the health department of how you would meet their standards,” he said. “We did that and they came out (Saturday) night, did a walk through, did an inspection and they approved us.”
Kaiser said his restaurant brings in about three to four thousand dollars on the typical Saturday, but this week he lost that revenue. And he’s not alone.
Hundreds of businesses in nine counties have had to close up shop since a chemical leak contaminated the drinking water supply Thursday and spread through the entire West Virginia American Water System.
“The numbers overnight have trended the way we expected them to,” said Col. Greg Grant as he updated the media Sunday afternoon.
He heads a team of National Guard chemist who, with the help of 16 teams, have collected hundreds of samples throughout the distribution system.
Samples tested at 10 labs in West Virginia plus one in Ohio and another in Pittsburgh show less and less of the chemical is present in the water, getting customers one step closer to life as usual.
West Virginia American Water President Jeff McIntyre said the green light has not been given to begin flushing the system, but when it begins, crews will flush it out in zones.
Zones that include hospitals and the highest population densities are the top priorities to get back online, but McIntyre said it will still be a difficult process for customers to understand.
“They’re done by pressure zones so they will overlap zip codes, they will overlap county lines, they will overlap city lines because they’re based on our system pressure zones,” he explained.
So, McIntyre and his team have set up a website where customers can simply type in their address and a virtual map will show you if you’re in a zone that’s been given the all clear.
A hotline to check on your clearance will also be set up and automatic calls will be made by the company when your home is in the green, but the phone number and web address are not being released until the first zone is ready to begin flushing.
Governor Tomblin warned customers to heed the directions of water officials and not start their own part of the flushing process early.
“This is still a state of emergency. Please don’t jump ahead,” he said Sunday. “That green light has not been given yet.”
Department of Health and Human Resources Secretary Karen Bowling said detailed protocols on how to deal with cleaning will be dispersed when flushing starts as well. Those protocols will include dealing with pipes, hot water tanks, appliances, anything that has come in contact with the contaminated water.
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman said there has been no reported impact to neither animal nor aquatic life since the leak. No fish kill has been reported, which he said was a concern.
Freedom Industries is reportedly working closely with DEP teams to clean up the site as quickly as possible.
DEP Emergency Response Director Mike Dorsey said they’ve dug trenches to collect chemical leaching in the groundwater and have set up booms on the riverbank to prevent any additional chemical from getting into the Elk River.
Tomblin added, however, he thinks the company should have offered more assistance in the water recovery effort.
“As we found out, most people did not know a whole lot about this particular chemical,” he said. “As you saw, we had to do a lot of research internally very quickly to find out what effects it may have.”
“I think perhaps they could have been a little more forthcoming and offer their assistance on what problems this particular chemical could have caused.”
Tomblin said regulations will be a top priority as the legislative session continues. He plans to work with DEP Secretary Huffman to figure out how to regulate such storage facilities.
WVAW President: Days Before Water is Returned
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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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.
Phone Numbers for Local Emergency Management Offices
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 counties are 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
Putnam County – 304 586-0246
Roane County – 304 927-0911
Noon Newscast on West Virginia Water Emergency: Beth Vorhees, Ashton Marra, & Dave Mistich Report
Major questions remain in the chemical spill from Freedom Industries, Inc. in the contamination of West Virginia American Water supplies across nine…
Major questions remain in the chemical spill from Freedom Industries, Inc. in the contamination of West Virginia American Water supplies across nine counties. West Virginia Public Broadcasting news director Beth Vorhees interviews Mark Glass from Downstream Strategies, Ashton Marra reports on the recent press conference at West Virginia American Water, and Dave Mistich gives a run down of activity on social media.
Stream the audio above to find out the latest from our Charleston news bureau and be sure to follow @wvpublicnews.
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