Environmental groups in West Virginia are pushing back against two bills in West Virginia that would relax regulations on above-ground chemical storage tanks and ease groundwater quality standards.
Blog Archives
Contaminated: Drinking Water Problems in Appalachia
By Hannah Gillespie Springs Harbor Potentially Harmful Bacteria Leigh-Anne Krometis, associate professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of Biological Systems Engineering, began studying the use of Appalachian roadside springs for drinking water in 2016 to determine whether they could be a…
TAGS: bromides drinking water e. coli Elk River GenX North Carolina spring water trihalomethanes Water Pollution West Virginia
West Virginia Contends with Aftermath of 2014 Chemical Spill
Three years after the chemical MCHM spilled from a storage tank into the Elk River, leaving 300,000 West Virginia American Water Company customers without safe drinking water, a tentative settlement was reached between the private water utility and the state Public Service Commission and Consumer Advocate.
W.V. Chemical Spill Settlement Reached
A settlement in a class-action lawsuit compensates residents affected by the Jan. 9, 2014, chemical spill at Freedom Industries in Charleston, W.Va., which dumped 7,500 gallons of the coal-washing chemical MCHM into the Elk River.
TAGS: Eastman Chemical Elk River freedom industries MCHM chemical spill West Virginia American Water
Two-year Anniversary of Charleston Water Crisis
Two years after 10,000 gallons of a toxic chemical, MCHM, spilled into the Elk River near Charleston, W.Va., the company providing water to 40 percent of West Virginians “continues to be unprepared for a major spill today,” a new report says.
TAGS: Central Appalachia Elk River freedom industries MCHM MCHM chemical spill safe drinking water Water Pollution West Virginia American Water West Virginia water crisis
Former Freedom Executives Indicted for Elk River Chemical Spill
Federal prosecutors in December charged the now-bankrupt Freedom Industries and six former employees for criminal violations of the Clean Water Act in relatation to the January 2014 chemical spill that contaminated the water of more than 300,000 West Virginia residents.
Scant Action One Year After Elk River Chemical Spill
Roughly one year after a coal-processing chemical spill by Freedom Industries contaminated the drinking water of more than 300,000 West Virginia residents, cleanup of the site remains incomplete and disciplinary and preventative action by state and federal officials has been minimal.
Compensation Remains Elusive After Elk River Chemical Spill
By Kimber Ray Prospects of a full cleanup are uncertain at the site of a chemical leak that contaminated the drinking water of 300,000 West Virginia residents last January. Freedom Industries in August submitted a proposal to the state bankruptcy…
Doubts Follow Elk River Contamination
By Kimber Ray Four months after a Freedom Industries chemical tank contaminated the water of approximately 300,000 West Virginia residents this past January, only 36 percent of those residents were drinking their tap water, according a survey released in May…
TAGS: Across Appalachia Elk River MCHM mountaintop removal coal mining North Carolina Ohio West Virginia West Virginia American Water Company
One Seriously Angry Granny
By Linda Sodaro Sometime last year, my good friend Kim and I had a conversation about the joys of a hot shower. The perfect temperature, with lovely handmade soap and standing there as long as we liked. She said, “I…
