CHARLESTON, W.Va–A new report in the Wall Street Journal says the state Division of Environmental Protection visited the Freedom Industries site more than previously believed.
When the chemical leak was first discovered last Thursday, the state DEP said it last inspected the site in 1991, but the Journal reports after reviewing documents that the DEP was at the site five more times since 2001.
The paper says that in 2010, DEP air quality inspectors traced a licorice odor to storage tanks containing MCHM, the same chemical that leaked into the Elk River last week, contaminating the water supply in a nine county region. A DEP senior engineer told the paper the smell did not rise to the level of a violation, adding that it could have come from loading of the chemical.
The Journal concludes that the DEP “exercised more oversight of the facility than previously thought.” But the DEP has cautioned that nothing in current law required permitting or inspections of the storage tanks.
The DEP also says it was not initially aware of the additional inspections.