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PSC holds public comment hearings on 2014 chemical spill

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Public Service Commission of West Virginia held two public comment hearings Tuesday as the commission continues its investigation into West Virginia American Water Company’s reaction to the Jan. 2014 chemical spill that tainted water for thousands.

Attendees of the second hearing included employees of WVAWC. Safe water advocates also were in attendance, claiming the corporation did not do enough to prevent water from being contaminated.

The chemical MCHM – which is used in coal preparation – entered into the Elk River from the Freedom Industries tank farm located upstream from WVAWC’s Kanawha Valley Plant. More those 300,000 residents across nine counties were affected by the spill.

On Jan. 4, two commission members toured the plant in question to better understand how it exactly functions.

Laura Martin, the external affairs manager for WVAWC, and a dozen employees attended the meeting to listen to customer concerns.

“We believe that we handled (addressing the spill) quickly and with the health and safety of our customers as the number one priority,” Martin said. “All of the information shows that we were dealing with a significant weather related event on the day that the chemical spill happened, and that really keeping the water system running and still providing water for basic sanitation and for fire protection was the right thing to do for our customers.”

In filings submitted by the water company’s attorneys Tuesday, plant operators said they had to deal with cold weather and out of service equipment around the same time of the spill. They also said changes cannot be made abruptly even under normal circumstances because it could result in unclean water being released into the system.

Prior to the meeting, members of Advocates for a Safe Water System gathered outside the Public Service Commission building under a banner reading, “PSC: Don’t Leave Us in the Dark!” Members pointed flashlights towards the sign as the sun began to set.

Joey Aloi, a member of the advocacy group, said WVAWC’s actions since the spill have been disappointing.

“They haven’t made substantial changes to the water system and they are certainly no more transparent,” Aloi said. “They have decided to placate our concerns by asking for rate increases, which they claim they need in order to meet our desires. The same things that we want is the same thing that safe water systems have and that people have much cheaper than we do.”

In a press release, Advocates for a Safe Water System said WVAWC has tried “multiple times” to limit and even dismiss the commission’s investigation.

Aloi said much of the public is uniformed about what unfolded at the water plant during the chemical spill, and only the commission can make those events public.

Martin said the most important thing going forward is to prevent chemicals being from being dumped in the first place. She also said she is proud about the progress the state has made in addressing chemical storage.

“That is where the really state has done a good job trying to rework above-ground storage laws in West Virginia,” Martin said.

In 2014, the state government approved the Aboveground Storage Tank Act into law that requires storage tanks to be evaluated and registered by the state.

Evidentiary hearings for the investigation will resume Jan. 24-26.





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