CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The Latest on the U.S. Chemical Safety Board releasing its report on the 2014 West Virginia chemical spill (all times local):
Noon
Investigators say that a chemical spill into the water supply of 300,000 people in West Virginia in 2014 was preventable.
At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairwoman Vanessa Allen Sutherland said the incident could have been avoided with inspections of the tanks at Freedom Industries in Charleston.
Supervisory Investigator Johnnie Banks said West Virginia American Water was operating with the best information it had when it decided to keep its plant running. The board’s report says the water company was initially given wrong information about the characteristics and amount of chemicals entering its treatment plant.
Despite additional studies after the spill, Banks said there’s still little known about chronic health impacts of the spilled chemical, crude MCHM. He said there haven’t been reports of long-term effects in hundreds of people who went to the emergency room after the spill with ailments from nausea to rashes.
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10:30 a.m.
Investigators have drafted a report about a chemical spill into the water supply of 300,000 people in West Virginia in 2014.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board’s draft says it found no documentation of inspections by Freedom Industries that would have identified corrosion in its leaky tank.
It says Freedom lacked leak detection or prevention systems.
In January 2014, chemicals leaked from Freedom in Charleston and entered West Virginia American Water’s Elk River intake. Tap water use was banned for days. After breathing near, bathing in or drinking the water, hundreds sought emergency care for issues from nausea to rashes.
The board says afterward, the state and the water company addressed many gaps through new requirements.
The board will discuss the report Wednesday at a public meeting in Charleston.
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1:15 a.m.
A board of federal investigators is releasing its findings about a chemical spill into the water supply of 300,000 people in West Virginia almost three years ago.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board will discuss the results of its investigation into the Freedom Industries spill Wednesday evening. The group’s public meeting will take place at the Four Points by Sheraton in Charleston.
In January 2014, a coal-cleaning chemical leaked from Freedom in Charleston and flowed into West Virginia American Water’s intake in the Elk River.
Tap water use was banned for days across nine counties, and hundreds of people went to emergency rooms for nausea, rashes, vomiting and similar issues after breathing near, bathing in or drinking contaminated water.
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