West Virginia's Contaminated Water

[Borgholio]

And allow the company to re-form under a different name and continue business as usual.

[LadyTevar]

Business Insider

West Virginia: 'Why Is The Rest Of The Country Fixated On A New Jersey Traffic Jam And We Have No Clean Water?'

It's a long article, I'll let you read it for yourselves

[Napoleon the Clown]

Speculation, but I can see the coal industry paying hush money to the media for the sake of PR. May not be the actual case, but I could see them doing in. You can't keep a story like this from breaking, but it is possible to get it shoved on the back burner after the initial release.


As far as the fuckers filing for Chapter 11, I'm not surprised at all. It would be nice to see them denied it, but I doubt that will happen. So much for accountability.

[Zaune]

I'd be surprised if they were still in the country anyway; expensive lawyers tend not to work quite so well against large mobs of very annoyed rednecks.

[SirNitram]

Update: Another chemical released in the spill.

Link

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Federal and state investigators learned Tuesday that an additional chemical that wasn't previously identified was in the tank that leaked Jan. 9 at the Freedom Industries tank farm, just upstream from West Virginia American Water's regional drinking water intake.

The company told investigators that the Crude MCHM that leaked also contained a product called "PPH," according to state and federal officials.

State officials said late Tuesday that, after consulting with West Virginia American Water Co., they believe the water company's Elk River plant would likely have removed the chemical from drinking water during its normal treatment process. Additional testing of some of the original water samples from the first days after the incident is being conducted to confirm that, officials said.

"We have to go back and confirm things and make sure we're doing our due diligence for public health," said Gen. James Hoyer of the West Virginia National Guard, who has a team that's been heading water testing efforts following the leak.

Amy Goodwin, spokeswoman for Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, said state public health officials had contacted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier in the day for assistance in understanding the chemical's potential health effects but had not heard back from the CDC as of Tuesday evening.

A Freedom Industries data sheet on the chemical says it can irritate the eyes and skin and is harmful if swallowed. The sheet lists the material as less lethal than Crude MCHM but also says no data are available on its long-term health effects.

Mike Dorsey, director of homeland security and emergency response for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said he learned about the additional chemical's presence in the tank that leaked at about 10 a.m., just before a routine daily meeting with various agencies and Freedom Industries about the situation at the site.

Dorsey said Freedom Industries President Gary Southern asked to speak with him privately, told him about the chemical being in the tank, and handed him data sheets on the material, which Dorsey referred to as polyglycol ethers.

"He said, 'I'm going to have a terrible day today,'" Dorsey said.

Dorsey said Southern told him the company previously had been adding the PPH to its Crude MCHM mixture and had stopped doing so. Southern said he didn't realize that the company had resumed adding the PPH to the mixture, Dorsey said.

Dorsey said there were about 300 gallons of PPH in the tank that leaked. It's not clear how much of that material leaked out of the tank or how much reached the river.

Dorsey said he was "extremely disappointed" to be learning only Tuesday -- 12 days after the leak -- about the presence of PPH in the tank that leaked.

Goodwin said that when Tomblin was told of the new information, the governor said that company's behavior was "totally unacceptable."

Crude MCHM is a coal-cleaning chemical made by Eastman Chemicals Co. It is stored and sold by Freedom Industries out of its facility just north of downtown Charleston.

While some reports have used the term "Crude MCHM" and the chemical "4-methylcyclohexanemethanol" interchangeably, the 4-MCHM is actually only one of seven components of Crude MCHM.

Eastman Chemical's material safety data sheet, or MSDS, says the chemical 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol makes up 68 to 89 percent of Crude MCHM. The Eastman MSDS also shows that Crude MCHM includes six other ingredients: 4-(methoxymethyl)cyclohexanemethanol, water, methyl 4-methylcyclohexanecarboxylate, dimethyl 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylate, methanol and 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol.

The Gazette learned about the presence of an additional chemical in the Freedom mixture from a source, and then confirmed some of the information with the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, which is investigating the leak.

Later on Tuesday evening, the Tomblin administration made a team of state officials available to provide additional details.

Daniel Horowitz, managing director of the CSB, said, "we were told about another component in the mixture that had been added to the Crude MCHM, a product called 'PPH' consisting of polyglycol ethers, at about 5.6 percent."

Horowitz said that according to an MSDS provided by Freedom Industries, the additional product "has low oral toxicity."

"We are reviewing the information now and [the CSB] team may further comment," Horowitz said.

Later, Horowitz said that the CSB's information came from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and referred calls to EPA. Officials from EPA did not respond to requests for comment.

Our local nightmare continues.

[Simon_Jester]

Business Insider

West Virginia: 'Why Is The Rest Of The Country Fixated On A New Jersey Traffic Jam And We Have No Clean Water?'

It's a long article, I'll let you read it for yourselves

As far as I can tell it only seems long because of the images, or am I missing something?

As to why this didn't break news, I don't think it's so much hush money as that Christie is a leader in the horse-race coverage for "who's going to be Republican nominee in 2016?" He's a celebrity, and a celebrity with actual political power.

Meanwhile, a scandal caused by corporate mismanagement just... doesn't make the news.

[Gandalf]

As to why this didn't break news, I don't think it's so much hush money as that Christie is a leader in the horse-race coverage for "who's going to be Republican nominee in 2016?" He's a celebrity, and a celebrity with actual political power.

Meanwhile, a scandal caused by corporate mismanagement just... doesn't make the news.

I imagine it's similar to why horrific events in parts of Africa are so often overlooked. In a world full of news, people are interested in the actions of Christie.

Comparatively, WV just isn't that interesting. Therefore it's easier to file under "other news."

[Edi]

This same company has otehr storage facilities that are just as carelesly managed, though not in quite as critically vulnerable places. This was no accident, but a compnay policy that ignores all safety regulations as a matter of principle.

[SirNitram]

As to why this didn't break news, I don't think it's so much hush money as that Christie is a leader in the horse-race coverage for "who's going to be Republican nominee in 2016?" He's a celebrity, and a celebrity with actual political power.

Meanwhile, a scandal caused by corporate mismanagement just... doesn't make the news.

I imagine it's similar to why horrific events in parts of Africa are so often overlooked. In a world full of news, people are interested in the actions of Christie.

Comparatively, WV just isn't that interesting. Therefore it's easier to file under "other news."

Third World industrial disasters never get much coverage, why would this one?

[LadyTevar]

WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY TRYING TO PULL?!?!?!?

Freedom in 'death spiral,' bankruptcy judge told

CHARLESTON, W.Va. --
A federal bankruptcy judge said a loan he tentatively approved during a hearing Tuesday would allow Freedom Industries to pay its employees and also pay to clean up a chemical leak into the Elk River earlier this month.

The coal-processing chemical known as Crude MCHM contaminated the West Virginia American Water system in Charleston and led officials to tell residents in nine counties not to drink, wash or cook with their water for days.

Freedom filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allows companies to reorganize under bankruptcy protection, on Friday. In Tuesday's hearing, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson called the case "one of the most unique Chapter 11 cases I've ever seen."

Freedom's president, Gary Southern, and chief financial officer, Terry Cline, testified at the hearing, which lasted a little more than six hours.

Southern told the judge, "Freedom Industries, from where I sit, is in a death spiral." Customers aren't buying from Freedom, he said, and suppliers aren't selling to them.

About 80 percent of Freedom's business is providing protection against freezing for coal, Southern testified Tuesday. The other 20 percent, which Southern called the chemistry business, includes the chemical that leaked into the Elk.

The company's busiest time is usually November through March, Southern said.

Cline said Freedom had already put $300,000 toward remediation of the spill, and told the judge the overall cost to the company might be $800,000. But Southern testified later that Freedom had already contributed $800,000 toward remediation costs.

Mark Freedlander, an attorney for Freedom, said company officials weren't willing Tuesday to discuss culpability for the chemical spill.

About an hour after Freedom filed for bankruptcy Friday, the company filed an emergency motion for "debtor-in-possession" (DIP) financing, which would allow it to secure a loan up to $5 million to continue to function in some capacity. The loan would, according to the filing, "provide additional liquidity to [Freedom] in order to allow it to continue as a going concern."

DIP lenders are often among the first agencies to get their money back from bankrupt companies.

Freedom's proposed DIP lender is WV Funding LLC, which was incorporated in West Virginia on Friday, the day Freedom filed bankruptcy.

WV Funding's one listed member is a company called Mountaineer Funding LLC. Mountaineer Funding also was founded Friday, according to filings with the Secretary of State's Office. There is also a space for Mountaineer Funding to sign on the DIP agreement.

Mountaineer Funding's one listed member is J. Clifford Forrest -- whom Southern said in court Tuesday is also the owner of Chemstream Holdings, Freedom Industries' parent company.

In a filing Sunday, West Virginia American Water Co. asked the judge to deny Freedom Industries' request for a loan, which the water company said "smells of collusion."

The water company called Freedom's request a "loan to own scheme."

"Freedom seeks to stampede this court into irrevocable and improvident actions which will likely result in the selective dismemberment of the Debtor's business to the permanent and immeasurable detriment of its creditors," the water company's filing states.

In its bankruptcy filing, Freedom described the DIP agreement as being negotiated between the parties "in good faith and at arms-length." But the water company notes the fact that the DIP lender that owns Freedom isn't disclosed in the bankruptcy filings.

"The terms of the DIP facility would provide the lender with a lien on all of the Debtor's assets, a superiority claim, and the ability to foreclose selectively on the assets and take away the most valuable assets from the Debtor's estate, leaving behind only the toxic facilities and huge damage claims caused by the Freedom spill," the water company's filing states.

In documents filed Sunday, West Virginia American Water says it has been sued 23 times over Freedom's chemical leak. Because of that, the water company says, it is Freedom's "largest single creditor" in the bankruptcy case.

On Tuesday, the judge tentatively approved a modified DIP agreement for $4 million. The money is to pay Freedom's 51 employees, clean up the environment and pay back "critical vendors" that agree to continue supplying Freedom with products.

Freedom owes $3.6 million to its top 20 unsecured creditors, according to bankruptcy documents.

The loan, which WVAWC agreed to, wouldn't allow the DIP lender to have priority over liens. It does, however, allow the lender priority over administrative costs, like legal fees and insurance costs, the judge said.

A bankruptcy filing puts a temporary hold on all claims for a company to pay its debts. All of the lawsuits also are put on hold. The courtroom was packed Tuesday with attorneys representing plaintiffs in civil cases filed against Freedom.

The judge also approved a motion made this week by several of those attorneys to preserve evidence at Freedom's office.

In a separate filing Monday, eight business owners in the Kanawha Valley filed an "adversary complaint," or a lawsuit within the bankruptcy, against Freedom Industries, Chemstream Holdings, Rosebud Mining Co., Gary Southern, J. Clifford Forrest and 99 unnamed individuals that acted with Freedom.

[Bedlam]

So one of the companies owners has created a company which will lend money to Freedom. Freedom can then go into bankruptcy or the company can foreclose and take any assets (probably at reduced prices) they want ahead of other's who Freedom own money to leaving the cost of any clean up in the governments hands and walk away scott free.

Yeah, that's scummy.

[Kitsune]

I hope this might spur some serious legislative changes

[Broomstick]

So one of the companies owners has created a company which will lend money to Freedom. Freedom can then go into bankruptcy or the company can foreclose and take any assets (probably at reduced prices) they want ahead of other's who Freedom own money to leaving the cost of any clean up in the governments hands and walk away scott free.

Yeah, that's scummy.

It's also business as usual for that part of the country.

[Flagg]

I hope this might spur some serious legislative changes

Boner has already pretty much said there are enough regs on the books they just aren't being enforced. So the usual.

[Kitsune]

I hope this might spur some serious legislative changes

Boner has already pretty much said there are enough regs on the books they just aren't being enforced. So the usual.

He may be partially right and in such case they need to properly finance the regulatory agencies.

[Flagg]

I hope this might spur some serious legislative changes

Boner has already pretty much said there are enough regs on the books they just aren't being enforced. So the usual.

He may be partially right and in such case they need to properly finance the regulatory agencies.

Somehow I doubt he's right when the facility hadn't been inspected in like 20 (iirc) years. But if he is and Obama demands funding for inspections they will whine about him being anti coal and refuse.

[Simon_Jester]

If the facility hasn't been inspected in 20 years, then for all we know the regulations on the books are perfectly adequate. They were written back in the day to prevent exactly this sort of thing from happening, at a time when "unacceptable contamination" really did mean "actively poisonous drinking water" or "river catches fire." For catching basic, bare-minimum violations of safety that threaten massive chemical spills, they're probably adequate; it's for dealing with part-per-billion concentrations of something that was only found to be a carcinogen in 1995 that they fall down.

But, yes, Republican politicians (and some Democratic ones) will whine if there is any attempt to enforce those regulations on shady fly-by-night operations, because doing so is inconvenient for the larger operations who donate.

[SirNitram]

It was a storage facility, so it wasn't required to be inspected here. The 'adequete regulations' is flatly wrong. ABC

Freedom Industries' safety flaws, including a last-resort containment wall filled with cracks, went largely undetected, because as a facility that neither manufactured chemicals, produced emissions, or stored chemicals underground, it was not subject to environmental regulations, state Department of Environmental Protection officials have said.

So yea, Boehner is lying about the sufficiency of regulations.

[Simon_Jester]

Ah. OK then, he is either lying or so ignorant that he deserves to be kicked out of Congress and allowed no public office of greater responsibility than dogcatcher.

I didn't know that storage facilities were exempt from inspections- but in my defense, I didn't make a positive statement that they ARE subject to inspections, or that existing regulations that don't require such inspections are 'good enough.'

[Broken]

Besides, the Republican playbook for dealing with inconvenient regulations (regardless if it be of the financial industry, industrial safety, or public services) for decades now has been to starve the department that is supposed to enforce them of funds, if they can't outright kill the department/regulation in question.

[LadyTevar]

But wait, WV's Senate has come to the Rescue!!!
Chemical Bill in Motion

Just not of us peons.
WV Senate Committee Votes To Weaken Water Quality Standards

Video linked, it will start playing when opened. You are warned.

[LadyTevar]

But hey, the Bars are Open and doing their part:

Event To Aid Those Who Lost Wages During Water Crisis

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Heath Harrison) -- The Empty Glass Cafe in Charleston is set to hold a United Way benefit concert to help those who lost wages in the water crisis.

The event is set for Saturday night at 10 p.m., with a $7 cover charge.

[LadyTevar]

Yeah, I'm not looking forward to my water bill.

WV Gazette

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Some West Virginia American Water customers were surprised this week to see increases on their most recent water bill -- despite being unable to use their water for several days.

"These water bills should have stayed the same," said Dunbar resident Paul Welker. "I think the water company's ripping us off."

On Jan. 9, a chemical leak from Freedom Industries into the Elk River above West Virginia American's Charleston water-treatment plant prompted state and local officials to warn 300,000 water customers in nine counties not to use their water for cooking, drinking or bathing.

It took several days before water officials started telling customers it was OK to flush out their water lines and start using water again. Some residents still aren't using it.

Water customers were told they would receive a 1,000-gallon credit on their bills so they wouldn't have to pay for the water used in flushing the pipes. However, when water bills came out this week -- including the period between the chemical leak and the time residents were told it was safe to flush their lines -- many customers received bills showing their water usage had gone up.

"Everyone I've talked to said their bill has gone up, not down," said Loretta Jividen, who lives with her husband, Rex, across Highland Avenue from Welker.

Welker and the Jividens saw their water bill increase by only a few dollars in January. However, one of their neighbors saw the bill go up from about $43 in December to about $57 in January, and one elderly woman on a fixed income in the neighborhood saw her bill go up from $70.65 to $99.11.

Increased water bills aren't confined to Dunbar. Harry Machado of Winfield said his latest water bill is about 40 percent more than his previous bill.

"We were out of town for two days during the water crisis, and we haven't been using the water for anything but flushing the toilet," he said. Even after being cleared to flush his water lines, Machado said, he and his wife are still drinking and cooking with bottled water.

"Where's that 1,000-gallon credit they're supposed to give us?"

Water company spokeswoman Laura Jordan said the water residents used to flush out their pipes might account for much of the increase in use. She said the water company is still working out details with the state Public Service Commission on how to apply the water credit.

"Those [credits] have not been applied yet," Jordan said. "Customers will see that on a future bill.

"For some customers, it may be their next bill, and for some, it may be the bill after that."

The math doesn't add up for Welker, who has a 5/8-inch water line going into his home.

By his calculation, at most, 20 gallons of water a minute could be flowing into his house. By flushing his pipes for the water company's recommended time of 15 minutes for the hot water and five minutes for the cold, he should have used 400 gallons of water, even though his bill shows he used far more.

"I timed it to the minute," he said.

Even though the toilet was used during the water emergency, Welker said, the water used in flushing the lines should have been more than offset by the water he and his wife weren't using to cook, drink or bathe in.

Jordan said that 95 percent of all water bills are based on actual water meter readings, so what Welker's water meter says should represent the actual amount of water that went into his home.

She suggested some customers might have used more water in January than they thought.

"In general, January is our highest-usage month anyway," Jordan said. She said a storm early in the month that plunged temperatures into the single digits caused a sharp rise in water usage, as customers left faucets running to keep their lines from freezing.

In August, West Virginia American had to correct the bills of 49,000 customers who had been either overcharged or undercharged. Company officials attributed the billing errors to a glitch in new billing software.

Whatever the reasons for the increases, some water customers say they aren't having much luck getting information about their bills from the water company.

"We called the water company," Machado said, "and they can't give us any answers."

Welker said he hasn't yet called to ask why his bill went up. "Their standard answer is, 'You've got a water leak,'" he said.

Rex Jividen did call the water company -- and was told he might have a water leak. Just to make sure, he said, he put dye in his toilet tank to make sure it wasn't leaking, and he checked the readings in and out of his water meter.

"I don't have a leak," he said.

[Kitsune]

Trying to sneak the bills for the problem onto the consumers?

[Irbis]

"In general, January is our highest-usage month anyway," Jordan said. She said a storm early in the month that plunged temperatures into the single digits caused a sharp rise in water usage, as customers left faucets running to keep their lines from freezing.

Wut?

I even checked how much 'single digits' in Fahrenheit are, but it's apparently just -16 Celsius. Where I live temperatures sometimes drop to -30 and no one does that...