CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Consumer Advocate Jackie Roberts urged the state Public Service Commission Wednesday to broaden its look at how West Virginia American Water Company responded to the January 2014 chemical spill on the Elk River in Charleston that caused a water emergency.
The PSC launched a general investigation into the water company’s response in the months after the spill that affected drinking water for about 300,000 residents in parts of nine West Virginia counties. The case is scheduled for an evidentiary hearing next month.
In a pre-hearing Wednesday, Roberts asked the commission to take into consideration what the water company did to prepare for emergencies ahead of Jan. 9, 2014. The company has said the review of its actions should begin when it was notified of the spill of MCHM from the Freedom Industries tank farm less than a mile from the intake of its Kanawha Valley water plant.
“That is the most ridiculous argument, frankly, that I’ve ever heard,” Roberts said. “I know that’s a personal opinion but I just have to say it. How they responded on Jan. 9 (2014) is informed by their preparations.”
West Virginia American maintains looking back at the time before the spill is not in the jurisdiction of the PSC but rather the state Bureau of Public Health. Roberts disagreed.
“It is your purview and your responsibility to evaluate what they did before the spill and it in no way intrudes on the BPH jurisdiction,” Roberts said.
In another pre-hearing issue, West Virginia American asked the PSC not to allow two rebuttal witnesses from the group Advocates for a Safe Water System and a group representing impacted businesses to testify at the upcoming evidentiary hearing. WVAWC attorney Chris Callas told the PSC Wednesday it’s a backdoor attempt by the groups to get documentary evidence into the hearing that has already been denied by the commission.
“It is clearly not rebuttal of other parties’ testimony and that was rebuttal is limited to,” Callas said.
The state issued a “Do Not Use” order for the company’s plant in the hours after the spill. The water had been contaminated with MCHM. The order stretched for several days until water was tested in various communities and deemed safe.
Public Service Commissioner Kara Cunningham Williams, who is chairing the general investigation, and fellow commissioner Brooks McCabe are scheduled to tour West Virginia American’s Kanawha Valley plant Jan. 4. The first day of the evidentiary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 5. with one witness only. The hearing will resume Jan. 24-26. The PSC will take public comments in two separate hearings scheduled for Jan. 17.
PSC Chairman Mike Albert recused himself from the case several months ago because of previous ties he had with the water company.