While searching for a blog post to review, I came across Technorati’s Top 100 Blogs. The number 19 spot is filled by a water crisis that is occurring in Charleston, West Virginia.
An environmental enforcement boat patrols in front of the chemical spill at Freedom Industries.
One the morning of Thursday January 9th, a chemical spill was detected at Freedom Industries’ storage facility. The storage facility is upstream from a water treatment facility, near Elk River in Charleston. A chemical known as 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol (MCHM) was detected in the water. MCHM is used for coal production and is known to cause “severe burning in throat, severe eye irritation, non-stop vomiting, trouble breathing or severe skin irritation such as skin blistering.” Once detected, a state of emergency was declared and more than 300,000 people were ordered not to use or consume their water, for anything other than flushing toilets.
In a press conference Friday evening, Freedom Industries President, Gary Southern, could not confirm the amount of chemical that had spilled into the water, nor confirm when the leak began. At this point, the contaminated water cannot be treated and is distributed to a 1,500 mile area. There is no timeline for when the water ban will be lifted, throwing West Virginians into a water crisis.
Empty shelves at a local Foodland between Freedom Industries and American Water.
Local stores have been chaotic, with shelves of bottle water being cleared quickly. Police officials were called in to guard the water delivery at a local Wal-Mart, as well as National Guard overseeing the distribution at the state capitol.
View the stunning article by Kiley Kroh, here.
I believe that this chemical spill and the effect that it is having on the city shows how important it is to have clean water. We are very lucky to live in America, where we have the means to obtain clean drinking water. Other countries are not as lucky, making me very grateful to be able to not have to worry about where I will be getting my next drink of water from.