"Straightsix9904" (Straightsix9904)
01/09/2014 at 22:05 • Filed to: None
1
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"Straightsix9904" (Straightsix9904)
01/09/2014 at 22:05 • Filed to: None | 1
| 24 |
There was a chemical spill in Charleston, WV this AM. The company that had the spill decided NOT to report it. It wasn't discovered until the firefighters tracked down the smell and then realized what was going on, approximately 6 hours after the leak began. Pretty big problem, a bigger problem, the water source for the town of about 100k people is about 400 feet down stream of the chemical spill.
This gets better, the chemical doesn't dissolve in water, can't be removed by boiling and isn't safe to shower or consume. The town is going NUTS looking for water. There have been fights for bottled water and police stationed at grocery stores to calm people down.
HammerheadFistpunch
> Straightsix9904
01/09/2014 at 22:07 |
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dayum. Stay safe.
Aaron James
> Straightsix9904
01/09/2014 at 22:16 |
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Dang, what chemical was it that spilled? I'm sure there will be a huge fine. Aren't there "ground water protection zones" that require immediate reporting of spills?
Once_upon_a_pvt
> Aaron James
01/09/2014 at 22:32 |
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The epa requires reporting on weirdly small quantities of spillage, and last I was briefed, I believe the fine is a general 35k per spill per day, and that's just if you spill oil on a road for example. They may have raised that to 50k bit I'm not sure. Contaminated drinking water should lead to criminal charges of I am. It mistaken, and not reporting can as well.
That said, I would imagine a spill big enough to smell around town would be a fairly large one.
Burt
> Straightsix9904
01/09/2014 at 22:32 |
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I have family in St. Albans, which is right in the middle of it, but not affected, and I live about 45 minutes from the mayhem. Everyone involved has, as usual, gone full retard trying to stockpile water. Similar situations, albeit not bad enough to involve the police happen with every big storm.
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Burt
> Aaron James
01/09/2014 at 22:36 |
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"The leaked product is 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol, which is used in the froth flotation process of coal washing and preparation." Here's an article from the local paper.
ttyymmnn
> Straightsix9904
01/09/2014 at 22:49 |
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Just drink beer instead. And there are tons of recipes for cooking with beer . Seriously, though, I wouldn't go full retard until it's clear just how bad it really is—or isn't. And it's going to take a little time to figure that out.
Jacob
> Burt
01/09/2014 at 22:51 |
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I'm in one of the effected areas, and people are really going ape shit. Around 8 I went to a local Rite Aid to get some pop for the evening and a line had started to form for a truck that was arriving at 2:00 AM. Additionally, that Rite Aid (Eleanor, in case you want to try and get some water) had called in for a special delivery of water at 7:00 AM.
I understand the need for water, particularly if it is needed for elderly people who need it with medication, etc...but everyone needs to calm the fuck down.
Doppelrock
> Straightsix9904
01/09/2014 at 22:53 |
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Couple minutes of searching found that the chemical is 4-methyl cyclohexane methanol , which is used in coal processing. Good luck out there!
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201401090…
http://www.google.com/patents/US4915…
M54B30
> Straightsix9904
01/09/2014 at 22:56 |
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My wife is an emergency management technician and certified HazMat spill responder in the Air Force and when I told her this she just said "oh..oh god...oh shit...." So I bet it's serious
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Aaron James
> Burt
01/09/2014 at 22:58 |
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Sounds like nasty stuff
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Burt
> Jacob
01/09/2014 at 23:02 |
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I'm down in Huntington, and since we get our water from the Ohio, so even though we'll eventually get water from the Elk, we should be good. If you need water, I would head in the Huntington direction. I don't know if there's mayhem down here, but our water is fine, so there shouldn't be.
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Burt
> Aaron James
01/09/2014 at 23:12 |
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Indeed, and I read somewhere that Freedom Industries figured out they had a problem, and then didn't notify anyone. If that's actually the case, pretty much everyone is going to have a field day with them.
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Straightsix9904
> Burt
01/09/2014 at 23:29 |
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Apparently Hton is affected too.
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Straightsix9904
> Burt
01/09/2014 at 23:30 |
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I read that people started smelling it and getting headaches LAST NIGHT.
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Burt
> Straightsix9904
01/09/2014 at 23:32 |
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Where did you hear that at? I haven't been able to find it anywhere. It makes sense, we're downriver from it, but I hadn't seen anything on us being affected.
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Straightsix9904
> ttyymmnn
01/09/2014 at 23:33 |
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That was my plan all along. I'm going to bring a 24 pack of Coors to work tomorrow. I don't drink the beer but I will be able to point to a news article about how it can be substituted for water.
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Straightsix9904
> Burt
01/09/2014 at 23:35 |
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From the Governor's Website:
"Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin this evening issued a State of Emergency for Boone, Cabell, Clay, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam, and Roane counties."
I think it is a precaution for Cabell right now
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Straightsix9904
> M54B30
01/09/2014 at 23:38 |
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They aren't taking it lightly around here.
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Burt
> Straightsix9904
01/09/2014 at 23:40 |
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Well I can tell you, I used the water in Huntington liberally all day, and had no side effects and that includes showering and prolonged dish washing. I ran it for a minute about an hour ago, and thought I got a whiff of the stuff, and haven't used it since. I'll give it another sniffing soon.
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Straightsix9904
> Doppelrock
01/09/2014 at 23:40 |
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You should check out Shelly Moore Capito's facebook. She is a State Representative. Half way through this state of emergency she takes time out of her day to bitch about Obama and the EPA and how there is too much regulation and over site of the coal industry.
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Straightsix9904
> Burt
01/10/2014 at 00:07 |
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I just drove by the water plant. From 2 miles away I could smell the chemicals. It is a real sweet smelling scent. They are comparing it to liquorise. This is kind of a big deal
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Jacob
> Burt
01/10/2014 at 00:17 |
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Putnam PSD and Hurricane PSD both have separate reservoirs, so if need be, I'll visit my friends in those areas and bum some water.
I wonder if the severity of the spill could have been increased because of the distance from the WV American Water Intake to the spill location, meaning, the chemical was spilled and then almost immediately sucked up into the water supply before it had the opportunity to dilute.
For anyone unfamiliar with the area, here is a quick map I made up.
I don't know for sure where the intake is for WV American Water, but I did mark the treatment facility, so it has to be close.
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Burt
> Straightsix9904
01/10/2014 at 08:36 |
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Yeah, roe the people in that immediate area, it sucks. I thought your comment about smelling it the night before last was on another thread by the way, sorry. I read this morning that some of the testing that's been running concluded that the spill has been occurring for longer than we thought.
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Burt
> Straightsix9904
01/10/2014 at 08:37 |
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Gotcha. All of the news outlets I've seen list Cabell County, but then go on to specify that it's only the Culloden area that is affected.