What Is Being Done to Help Folks Without Potable Water in Wyoming Co.?

The folks in a Wyoming County community were dealing with unpotable water months before the chemical spill in Charleston.

About 170 customers, around 500 people, have been on a boil water advisory since September.

This past weekend an apparent power outage caused the pump to stop working at the Alpoca Water Works facility. The Mullens Opportunity Center is offering a place for folks to shower as needed. Reports indicate the water has since cleared up to the eye, but residents remain on a boil water advisory.   

It appears that the need for clean water in this region won’t go away anytime soon.

The Situation

The Alpoca Water Works system is old, and outdated. Alpoca is a small locally owned company with limited resources.

The owners are working to close the sale of the company and turn it over to the Eastern Wyoming County PSD, but apparently it’s not a simple sale.

The water tank sits on property owned by NASCAR driver Greg Biffle. Greg’s brother Jeff Biffle says they were not aware that the tank was on their property.

Wyoming County court officials haven’t been able to locate documents indicating Alpoca Water Works had ever leased the land, although the tank has been there for decades.

In a phone conversation, Jeff Biffle told West Virginia Public Broadcasting that they paid $30,000 in attorney’s fees to ensure they were taking care of their responsibilities.

What’s being done to fix the water?

The Logan Public Service District has worked to fix the filter, installed three flush valves, and other things to improve the quality.

The long-term fix, known as the Covel project, will bring a new water main to serve the Bud/Alpoca area. The project has nearly a $5.7 million price tag, all of which – except for $125,000 – is Abandoned Mine Land funding.

The money comes from a tax coal companies pay that’s meant to help resolve public safety issues such as hazardous highwalls, or damaged water resulting from mining before 1977. 

“We are literally a year away before that extension comes,” Sen. Mike Green said during an interview on The Legislature Today. “So our main focus now it to find a temporary water source.”

“After that we’ll look at any type of legislation or remedy … at this point we don’t have an answer for the residents of Wyoming County,” he added.

State Senators Green and Daniel Hall say they’ve reached out to several state agencies to find a fast solution like getting help from the National Guard, state Homeland Security, and the Department of Health and Human Resources.

“I’m a little disappointed in our Department of Health and Human Resources,” Green said. “Their position is that they’ve tested the water they’ve issued a boil water advisory and at that point they question whether or not they have any responsibility in that. I think they do.”

The Saddle Club out of N.C. donated 250 cases on Wed. Feb. 19, 2014. Virginia Lusk (middle) says she will continue to collect and distribute water at Herndon Consolidated School.

Green said he’s expecting an order from the state Public Service Commission that would help to remedy the situation soon.

For now, the boil water advisory continues. On Wednesday, the second donation arrived from the nonprofit organization called the Good People Fund, based in New Jersey.

Principal of Herndon Consolidated Virginia Lusk says other donations have arrived from a sorority and fraternity based at Marshall University, the UPS Foundation, and groups from North Carolina, Michigan and more.

“People from Wyoming County are very resilient and very tough and we’re taking care of ourselves,” Senator Daniel Hall said. “But it does make the community feel very good that people from outside care enough to try and send help. We are very grateful for that.” 

Lusk said the school will continue and distribute the water from Herndon Consolidated School.

Credit Virginia Lusk
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The Good People Fund, out of New Jersey, has donated a total of 2,000 gallons of water.

CDC to Talk with W.Va. About Lab Studies on Spilled Chemicals

Federal health experts say they'll talk with West Virginia officials about what lab studies are needed on little-known chemicals that spilled into a water…

Federal health experts say they’ll talk with West Virginia officials about what lab studies are needed on little-known chemicals that spilled into a water system last month.
 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokeswoman Bernadette Burden said Wednesday the CDC will reach out to the state about possibly conducting more studies.
 
Scientists worked with limited animal research when they quickly crafted a chemical standard used to lift a water-use ban about a month ago.
 
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin sent the CDC a letter Tuesday requesting more toxicology studies from it. He also asked the CDC to analyze health charts from patients admitted with symptoms that could have resulted from chemical contact.

After the spill into the Elk River, 300,000 people were told not to use their water for days.
 

Sanitation Commission, DEP: Water Quality Unchanged After Slurry Spill

State regulators say tests indicate water quality hasn’t changed following a coal slurry spill in a Kanawha River tributary.
 
The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission tested water samples Saturday through Tuesday at Huntington’s water intake on the Ohio River. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection says the results indicate no water quality changes.
 
The DEP says its tests of Kanawha River samples last Thursday show water quality at acceptable levels for public water supplies and fisheries.
 
On Feb. 11, 108,000 gallons of slurry spilled into Fields Creek from Patriot Coal’s Kanawha Eagle preparation plant.
 
The DEP said Wednesday that slightly elevated levels of aluminum have been found within the affected area of Fields Creek. The agency attributes the elevated levels to materials used to remediate the site.
 

Charleston Mayor Considering In-Home, Business Water Testing

Charleston Mayor Danny Jones is exploring the city taking on testing of hotels and homes, to “prove to folks that the water is okay if, in fact, it is.”

Jones said he doesn’t know how many samples would be collected because he is awaiting a report from an Ohio-based company that would outline the cost of testing. He didn’t reveal the name of the company. 

Jones also said he isn’t sure what would be done with the proposal but said it will be released publicly. The Charleston City Council’s next regularly scheduled meeting is Monday, March 3.

Although Governor Tomblin and state officials have launched an independent in-home testing campaign through Dr. Andrew Whelton and Corona Environmental Consulting, Jones said more focus needs to be had on Charleston.

“The governor has a big territory to cover and we’ve got Charleston to worry about. Our brand has been butchered worse than anybody’s. We can’t wait,” Jones said. 

“We hope the governor won’t cease from coming in here and doing all of the testing that he wants but, we need to do some of our own testing.”

Jones said the purpose of the testing is to prove to residents and potential tourists that the water is safe and to restore confidence in the safety of the city. 

On a recent personal trip to the west coast, Jones said he learned the outside perspective of Charleston–and West Virginia as a whole–“is not good.”

“They wonder if the water has been poisoned in West Virginia. They don’t differentiate between nine counties and 55 counties. It’s just one state and they’re not too mired down in the details. It’s not good for the state,” he said.

W.Va. OKs Controls Tests at Kanawha Slurry Spill Site

West Virginia regulators say a coal operator can begin testing new control measures at the site of a slurry spill.
 
The Department of Environmental Protection said Wednesday that it has modified an order halting all work at Patriot Coal’s Kanawha Eagle preparation plant in Winifrede.
 
The change from an imminent harm cessation order to a notice of violation will allow the plant to conduct the tests.
 
The DEP issued the order after 108,000 gallons of coal slurry spilled from a pipeline into Fields Creek on Feb. 11.

Control measures installed by Kanawha Eagle since the spill include remote cameras along the slurry line and two external flow meters that are designed to alert company officials of problems.
 

Gov. Tomblin, DHHR Secretary Request CDC to Conduct Further Health Studies After Spill

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and Department of Health and Human Resources Secretary Karen Bowling Tuesday sent a letter to Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to formally request the CDC, or its partners, immediately conduct further epidemiological and/or toxicological studies and address ongoing population surveillance or monitoring as a result of the January 9 Elk River chemical spill.

Tomblin and Bowling’s request comes nearly two weeks after Dr. Tanja Popovic of the CDC said that the agency has no plans to monitor the population affected by the chemical spill and subsequent water crisis.

“I am committed to the health and well-being of West Virginians and believe there is a pressing need to further study the potential health effects resulting from exposure to water contaminated with crude MCHM and PPH,” Gov. Tomblin said in a news release.

“It is critical this study is funded and that work begins immediately.”

You can read Gov. Tomblin and Sec. Bowling’s letter here:

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