CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The supervisory investigator with the U.S. Chemical Safety Board says he hopes the investigative report into the 2014 chemical spill and water emergency that affected 300,000 residents in parts of nine West Virginia counties provides “some measure of comfort” to residents that they are not at risk from their exposure to the chemical MCHM.
Investigator Johnnie Banks and CSB Chairwoman Vanessa Sutherland released the 125-page report at a news conference Wednesday in Charleston just hours before the full U.S. Chemical Safety Board was scheduled to vote on the report’s recommendations following a public meeting.
MORE Read CSB draft report here
Although investigators admit much remains unknown about MCHM, there hasn’t been the evidence since the spill that significant health-related issues have occurred. For example, there were not a high number low birth-rates nine months after the spill, Banks said.
“We’re not seeing any complaints of chronic long term illnesses, respiratory, rashes or anything associated. It’s not absolute and we don’t say absolutely but for the two tests that we observed done by Eastman and by the National Toxicology program the data is aligned. They were independently run. There’s no data or false steps there,” Banks said. “The findings of these two independent tests suggest that there is no threat to humans.”
Banks arrived in Charleston on Jan. 14, 2014, just five days after the leak had been detected at the Freedom Industries tank farm on the Elk River. He found a community filled with uncertainty, he recalled when speaking with MetroNews Wednesday.
“After a day of trumping around on the site — I went to my hotel room at the Embassy Suites–after being told that we’re all clear–turned on the shower and guess what? I’m smelling MCHM in my hotel room,” Banks said.
Freedom first reported the spill to be 1,000 gallons but that eventually grew to 10,000 gallons. The chemical contaminated the West Virginia American Water Company Kanawha Valley Plant just 1.5 miles downstream from the spill.
The report concludes it all could have prevented starting with regular inspections of its tanks by Freedom, Banks said.
“If you have a chemical in a tank you inspect that tank at regular intervals,” Banks said. “There are devices and equipment apparatus that can do that quite effectively. There are professionals that know the procedures.”
Two holes developed in the bottom of the tank because of corrosion causing the leak to occur. The problem grew because a secondary containment wall was in pool shape and an underground culvert had also deteriorated leaving a clear path for the MCHM to the Elk River. The report concludes the leak had probably been taking place for about 24 hours.
MCHM was considered non-hazardous so there was not a requirement for inspections but it would have been good business practice, Banks said.
After the spill the missteps continued including the response by West Virginia American Water, the report said.
“They weren’t purposely done but misinformation that didn’t instill confidence in West Virginia American Water to provide water for people to drink,” Banks said.
Those missteps included not knowing the exact amount of MCHM that had spilled and not known exactly what MCHM was.
“If you expect it to behave a certain way you’re going to have your mitigation set up to deal with it that way. They weren’t given the correct information and that just exacerbated the overwhelming of their filtering system,” according to Banks.
West Virginia American Water working with the state Bureau of Public Health did not initially issue the “Do Not Use” order because, according to the CSB report, “WVAW was mistakenly informed that MCHM was a flocculent, rather than a frothing agent, and that only 1,000 gallons was released. WVAW assumed its water treatment and filtration system was capable of treating and removing the chemical from the water.”
The “Do Not Use” order was issued less than two hours after the water company noticed MCHM in its plant.
The report also highlights the confusion in the days after the spill as officials tried to find out more about MCHM.
“As the crisis evolved, residents in the Charleston area were given unclear and conflicting announcements because of the changing information from Freedom and government agencies, which increased public uncertainty about the safety of the drinking water,” the report said.
The Chemical Safety Board does credit the state and West Virginia American Water for taking steps in the months after the emergency. A new state law requires water systems to have ‘Source Water Protection Plans’ spelling out requirements for those who run the water systems to know what chemicals are close to their water source and how a potential contamination event would be handled.
The parent company of West Virginia American Water, American Water Works, should spread the lessons in West Virginia across the country, the CSB said.
“AW (American Water) is well positioned to establish requirements for its subsidiary surface water treatment plants to develop and implement plans similar to WVAW’s plan to ensure they are adequately prepared for potential contamination events,” the report said.
Going forward, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board recommends owners and operators of chemical facilities across the U.S. where those facilities are near water sources to establish regular inspection and monitoring programs and coordinate plans with nearby water utilities and first responders.
The CSB also recommends states take immediate action to protect source water and the public from “unknown and potentially hazardous materials.”
“This can be achieved through increased inspections and enforcement at chemical storage facilities near water sources and coordination between emergency response organizations and public health agencies,” the report said.
The state DEP hired an environmental contractor who began removing the contaminated soil from the former Freedom Industries site earlier this year after the tanks were demolished. DEP spokesperson Kelley Gillenwater told MetroNews this week the work continues.
“The soil excavation is complete and a cap is in place. The environmental contractor is in the process of doing confirmatory surface water testing to ensure the cap is working as it is supposed to. There also has to be a residual risk assessment completed. The goal is to have everything wrapped up by the end of the year,” Gillenwater said.
Several former Freedom Industries officials have served time in federal prison in connection with their roles in the operation of the company and the spill.
Jury selection is scheduled next month in a federal class-action lawsuit aimed at West Virginia American Water and the maker of MCHM, Eastman Chemical. The state Public Service Commission is continuing its investigation into the water company’s response to the emergency. The company has again asked the PSC to delay a hearing on the issue currently scheduled for mid-November.