14 DAY TRIAL // News from the United States says that, this past Thursday, a state of emergency was announced in West Virginia. The state of emergency targeted nine of the state's counties, and was declared in the aftermath of a chemical spill, media reports say.
The chemical spill in question is said to have occurred at Freedom Industries in Charleston.
Thus, a tank at this facility reportedly leaked significant amounts of a chemical compound known as 4-methylcyclohexane methanol. This compound is commonly used during coal washing, RT tells us.
The 4-methylcyclohexane methanol that spilled from the tank at Freedom Industries eventually worked its way into Elk River.
According to LA Times, the storage tank responsible for the spill has a capacity of 48,000 gallons. Investigations revealed that it somehow came to sport a hole in it, and that this is why the leakage occurred.
“All we know is that they discovered a hole in the tank, and material was leaking. How that hole got there, we don’t know,” Tom Aluise, a spokesman for West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection, told the press.
Following this chemical spill, people living in the area were asked not to drink water from their taps. Furthermore, they were banned from using it to make food, and were even urged not to bathe in it.
“If you are a customer of West Virginia American Water, please do not drink, bathe, or cook, or do laundry using the water at this time,” reads a warning issued by high officials in the county of Kanawha.
“Please only use the water for sanitary reasons like flushing and fire protection,” it goes on to say.
All in all, the water ban is estimated to have affected about 300,000 consumers in the following counties: Boone, Lincoln, Cabell, Kanawha, Jackson, Clay, Logan, Roane and Putnam.
Specialists working with West Virginia American Water say that, although the leaked chemical is hazardous, it is not deadly. They further detail that water contaminated with it will smell like liquorice, and taste like gas.
Governor Earl Ray Tomblin is currently unable to say how long the state of emergency will remain in place. Until the ban on using tap water is lifted, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will deliver clear water to the area on a regular basis.