How inexcusable is this hazardous waste spill? It was last inspected in 1991. That’s 23 years ago! That date is pre-Bill Clinton. If the states do not regulate their plants, then the feds will have to do it. Water and rivers affect us all.
In fact, the federal government has a moral obligation to regulate plants in order to avoid incidents like this one. Where does the Elk River flow? How does it get to the sea? How many of us will be exposed to this industrial filth?
The repugs don’t want regulation. That is why this happens. It is disgusting.
I am certain no one wants to be poisoned by polluted water.
There was so much regulation on this company that it did not have the resources to monitor the tanks. (sarcasm) The real question is how long has this tank been leaking (and the others) before it let lose and was discovered? Apparently it recently changed ownership.
I just think the entire situation is outrageous and unacceptable. No inspections for 23 years?
No such thing as ‘states rights ‘ here, to my way of thinking. Not when clean water affects all of us.
My beloved late husband kept saying that, in the end,
the world will wake up to the fact that WATER and, espicially, potable water,
is the number one natural resource
without which we cannot sustain life on earth.
I agree, Punchak. Water and oxygen are essential.
Virginia won’t get any of it. The Elk River at Charleston is part of the watershed of the Ohio-Mississippi system.
Which flows into the Gulf of Mexico which flows into the Atlantic which touches Virginia. Yea, it affects us here in Virginia.
@Starry flights Quick quiz question, Starry, and no cheating with Google or Wikipedia:
Which President from which political party signed the Executive Order which brought the Environmental Protection Agency into being?
I am going to guess Tricky Dick. He did a lot of things I approve of. Now I will go look it up.
That’s too easy …
Not fair. Today’s “republicans” are not the same. They’ve mutated.
That is hilarious! Mutated ‘republicans!’
All this talk about parties.
Okay.
One GOP governor in W. Virginia 1997-2001
Democratic majority in House since 1930.
Democratic majority in Senate
Blame the state.
@Starry flights
Yet WV is a red state.
I have family and friends a few counties away from this area. There is one thing that the media is not reporting on. I know people need water. However, this is an agricultural area. The farm animals are in need of water. Those animals are people’s livelihood which is lost in this story. I’m not dismissing the importance of the people’s need for water, but this aspect has not been mentioned in a single report of heard/read in the media.
Thanks for bringing the animal side of this up. Even more than livelihood, its just cruelty to animals.
Keep us posted. Its very critical and can’t be rectified with bottled water.
@Lafayette
THAT is a very important part of the story.
How ARE they watering the animals?
A good solution is to require all politicians drink “public water” from their districts. If not I see a future where “big energy” sells its next big product – water!
I like it.
@Cargosquid
I honestly don’t know. I have a friend with a HUGE working farm. They have water in 500 gallon drums in various places for just these sorts of incidents. I hope those folks in this area have a stock pile of water for their stock. It really pisses me off that this is not in the news. Many of those animals will be on somebody’s dinner plate one day.
@Bruce Roemmelt
Bruce, I love it! I’d like to see your requirement implemented here in our county for starters. 🙂
I’ve seen several stories in the news recently that tap water is cleaner than some bottled water. I’ve also, seen taste tests and tap wins most of the time.
Some bottled water is gross. I like dasanti myself.
I wonder what the effects are for the downstream cities and states as the Elk River flows through Ohio and eventually empties into the Mississippi river. The water still smells like licorice and yet the local authorities are encouraging everyone to drink the water….
It sounds like a horrible situation.
remember also that New Yorkers were told that the air was safe after 9-11. Come to find out, not so much…..
@Pat.Herve
Heh…coming from New Orleans, which is downstream from EVERYONE……
Business as usual……
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/09/house-superfund-bill_n_4571428.html
Here’s disgusting. The repubs just took even more teeth out of the superfund bill. I wonder how those people in W. VA will enjoy paying for their own clean up?
excellent point Laf!
@Lafayette
Many farms have large, man-made, clay-bottomed ponds which are used to store water for livestock and other purposes. These ponds are spring-fed or well-fed or creek-fed. They also collect rain and snow run-off. I would guess that the chemical spill won’t affect those livestock. My late father-in-law was an artist at carving out these farm ponds with a dozer. He had a reputation for never having a pond which went dry.
http://www.npr.org/2014/01/13/262185930/mysteries-persist-surrounding-west-virginia-chemical-spill
They don’t even KNOW the real consequences of this toxic chemical!
Maybe this will be the “Love Canal” epiphany for West Virginia.