CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Kanawha County Commission says it has new evidence that a chemical from a 2022 truck crash on the West Virginia Turnpike is still impacting the soil along Paint Creek.
“Just recently we were told that the tests came back and every soil sample that was tested showed evidence of this toxic chemical,” Commissioner Lance Wheeler said at the commission’s Thursday evening meeting.
According to the lawsuit filed by the Commission back in January, approximately 3,000 gallons of Empigen, a hazardous material commonly used in cleaning products, spilled into the creek in the early morning hours of Aug. 25, 2022, killing over 30,000 fish and polluting the drinking water for the area..
The lawsuit against the trucking company, Gadsden, Gaillard and West LLC, is currently in mediation.
The company has claimed there’s a lack of evidence to support the county commission’s lawsuit. Wheeler and the other commissioners said Thursday the test results in a newly developed test prove the county’s case.
“We now need to look at getting as much money from the trucking company to not only clean up the sites and the soil but also looking at money to set aside to help the Paint Creek Watershed,” Wheeler said.
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper said the trucking company should be given the new information before Sept. 11, the next scheduled mediation session.
“Tell them that if they don’t step up to the plate and agree to do what we’ve asked them to do, we’re going to seek to amend our complaint and maybe go after them,” Carper said.
Commissioner Ben Salango said the new evidence should make a difference in the legal battle.
“But I mean if this evidence doesn’t compel them to take this seriously then we’ll just keep moving forward, do what we’ve got to do and eventually get it in front of a jury and they are going to lose,” Salango said.
The chemical, a surfactant called Empigen AS/F90, first spilled into Skitter Creek in Fayette County and flowed into Paint Creek in Kanawha County.
Residents who have well water along Paint Creek continue to express concern about residue from the leak they continue to see after it rains.
Dennis West, 54, of Moncks Corner, South Carolina, a part owner of the company was driving the truck. He blew a .128 on a breathalyzer, nearly two times the legal limit. All lanes of the Turnpike were closed for 18 hours.