CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Adjutant General Jim Hoyer said he anticipates water sampling in the West Virginia American Water system will last the rest of this week.
The Guard is part of an inter-agency technical team that’s been testing the water throughout the system impacted by the Jan. 9 chemical spill that resulted in a 9-county Do Not Use water order. The team has been testing for levels of Crude MCHM and more recently PPH.
Hoyer told state lawmakers back on Friday the water is being sampled at 10 parts per billion.
“It will probably take another week to ensure we’ve met that criteria throughout the entire system,” Hoyer said. “We’re running 24-hour 7-day a week shifts since we came onto this and we will continue to do that.”
Recent testing has shown only trace levels of MCHM in the outer areas of the 1,700 miles of WVAWC water pipes. The intake and outtake of the company’s water plant in Charleston hasn’t shown any sign of the chemical for several days. The state has also announced retesting of earlier results also have shown no detection levels for PPH.
Hoyer said 425 members of the Guard are supporting the inter-agency effort.
“I’m saying a lot of extra prayers because I’ve got young men and women out in the middle of the night in sub-zero temperatures with black ice who are working their damndest to make sure we get this done as quickly as possible for the benefit of the citizens of this state,” Hoyer said.