A chemical spill has
West Virginia residents making trips to the grocery story for bottled water and
ice. Somehow or other a whole bunch of 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol, a chemical
used by the coal industry, wound up flowing into the Elk River in Charleston,
the state capital, and upriver from a major water treatment plant.
The
contamination of the water has left 300,000 residents, a sizable portion of the
state’s population of under 2 million, without tap water. President Obama
declared a state of emergency for West Virginia, ensuring federal aid.
There
is no word on how the chemical wound up in the Elk River; no explanation as to
why the water treatment plant had no plans for such a spill; and there is no
explanation as to why a plant or mine with so much potentially hazardous
material would be upstream from a major water treatment plant.
But
then again, this is West Virginia.
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