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Saturday, January 11, 2014
Corporate criminals now forcing Americans to pay for their own poisoning
NEW YORK TIMES
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NEW YORK TIMES
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Federal prosecutors opened an investigation on Friday into a chemical spill that had contaminated the drinking water of more than 200,000 residents of West Virginia, as state officials said it was unclear when the water would be safe to use.
The spill that has affected Charleston and the nine surrounding counties was discovered around noon on Thursday at a storage facility owned by on the Elk River, where a 48,000-gallon tank began leaking 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol, or MCHM, a compound used to wash coal of impurities, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Booth Goodwin, the United States attorney for the southern part of West Virginia, said in a statement that his office and “other federal law enforcement authorities have opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the release.”
“We will determine what caused it and take whatever action is appropriate based on the evidence we uncover,” Mr. Goodwin said.
The chemical, which smells like licorice, can cause headaches, eye and skin irritation, and difficulty breathing from prolonged exposures at high concentrations, according to the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. Officials in West Virginia said they did not know how much of the chemical had leaked into the river or what its potential health impact might be.
The state’s order not to drink tap water or use household water to bathe, brush teeth, supplement infant formula or cook was made in an abundance of caution, officials said.
“We don’t know that the water is not safe, but I can’t say it is safe,” Jeff McIntyre, president of West Virginia American Water Company, which supplies most of the household water in the area, said at a news conference on Friday. “The only appropriate use for this water is toilet flushing.”
Mr. McIntyre said boiling water would not effectively eliminate the risk of illness.
Stores in the area ran out of bottled water Thursday evening, as people ignored pleas to not hoard supplies. Schools, government offices, restaurants and other businesses were closed Friday. Hotel guests were told not to use the water.
On Friday morning, residents waited in long lines for bottled water or water being distributed via tanker trucks parked outside community centers, schools and colleges.
At the South Charleston Community Center, where water, about 400 gallons, was being given to residents, people arrived with jugs and other containers for their four-gallon allotment.
Police officers and firefighters directed traffic as people waited their turn in long lines.
“This here today will get our teeth brushed and water for our dog and two cats,” said November Hardway, who brought a large Gatorade cooler to be filled with water. She said she planned to spend Friday night at her home in Charleston before leaving Saturday morning for a neighboring town where the water is safe to use.
The National Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency is helping distribute water to customers of the water company in the nine counties: Boone, Cabell, Clay, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam and Roane.
The spill apparently occurred after the chemical leaked from a hole in the bottom of the tank and then filled an overflow container before spilling into the river, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, Thomas J. Aluise, said.
The chemical resembled “cooking oil floating on top of the water,” Mr. Aluise said.
Because the contaminated water is already in the distribution system, the entire system will have to be flushed, Mr. McIntyre said, a process that would include draining the region’s fire hydrants.
It is unclear how long that might take. “We cannot provide a timeline at this point,” he said. Mr. McIntyre said so little was known about the amount that had been spilled that the problem might turn out to only be “an aesthetic issue of taste and odor.”
Booth Goodwin, the United States attorney for the southern part of West Virginia, said in a statement that his office and “other federal law enforcement authorities have opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the release.”
“We will determine what caused it and take whatever action is appropriate based on the evidence we uncover,” Mr. Goodwin said.
The chemical, which smells like licorice, can cause headaches, eye and skin irritation, and difficulty breathing from prolonged exposures at high concentrations, according to the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. Officials in West Virginia said they did not know how much of the chemical had leaked into the river or what its potential health impact might be.
The state’s order not to drink tap water or use household water to bathe, brush teeth, supplement infant formula or cook was made in an abundance of caution, officials said.
“We don’t know that the water is not safe, but I can’t say it is safe,” Jeff McIntyre, president of West Virginia American Water Company, which supplies most of the household water in the area, said at a news conference on Friday. “The only appropriate use for this water is toilet flushing.”
Mr. McIntyre said boiling water would not effectively eliminate the risk of illness.
Stores in the area ran out of bottled water Thursday evening, as people ignored pleas to not hoard supplies. Schools, government offices, restaurants and other businesses were closed Friday. Hotel guests were told not to use the water.
On Friday morning, residents waited in long lines for bottled water or water being distributed via tanker trucks parked outside community centers, schools and colleges.
At the South Charleston Community Center, where water, about 400 gallons, was being given to residents, people arrived with jugs and other containers for their four-gallon allotment.
Police officers and firefighters directed traffic as people waited their turn in long lines.
“This here today will get our teeth brushed and water for our dog and two cats,” said November Hardway, who brought a large Gatorade cooler to be filled with water. She said she planned to spend Friday night at her home in Charleston before leaving Saturday morning for a neighboring town where the water is safe to use.
The National Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency is helping distribute water to customers of the water company in the nine counties: Boone, Cabell, Clay, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam and Roane.
The spill apparently occurred after the chemical leaked from a hole in the bottom of the tank and then filled an overflow container before spilling into the river, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, Thomas J. Aluise, said.
The chemical resembled “cooking oil floating on top of the water,” Mr. Aluise said.
Because the contaminated water is already in the distribution system, the entire system will have to be flushed, Mr. McIntyre said, a process that would include draining the region’s fire hydrants.
It is unclear how long that might take. “We cannot provide a timeline at this point,” he said. Mr. McIntyre said so little was known about the amount that had been spilled that the problem might turn out to only be “an aesthetic issue of taste and odor.”
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Posted in: "Mainstream Media" Lies,American Demise,American Traitors,Corporate Criminals,Obama Criminal Regime,U.S. Poisoned Water Supplies
