Having lived all my life here we've pretty much come to accept that all regulatory agencies here to serve industry. If you want any help you pretty much HAVE to hope the feds will come in and generally they are too short handed to do anything.
Recently though the ire generated by the coal companies against the EPA and their public relations campaign against it have even shifted the publics perception of the federal gov't as somebody who helps.
I'm not sure how old people are but one of the first things they went after during the Reagan years was OSHA, but now it seems like most of our agencies state and federal are reactive to tragedies instead of preemptive.
When you look at the chemical spill some obvious questions emerge:
If WV American water has taken over such a large portion of the water market here why were they allowed to draw water from only one area?? That river has numerous coal and chemical plants along it?
They basically had to develop testing for this chemical yet shouldn't the water company be testing the public water on a regular basis for all chemicals that plants hold in large quantities that could potentially impact their water?? I mean this chemical was detected due to it's odor, but what about a more deadly but undetectable spill??
Freedom industries was using an ancient facility and when they bought it they knew it had problems. Shouldn't they have had to correct the problems BEFORE they used the facility??
Basically what we have come to here is the same thing as the financial crisis. Years of neglect of the environmental safety net and deregulation have finally broadly impacted an area.
Stuff like this has happened a lot, especially in the coalfields but since it affects individuals only a few have been watching.
WV Gazette has a good article on this and when I read it I sort of see it as the effect of years of deregulation and focus of industry over the public:
Those same agencies and public officials, though, have said they know little about the chemical involved. They're all acting a bit surprised that this mystery substance was being stockpiled so close to a crucial water intake, and shocked that something like this could have happened.
Water company officials are equally puzzled. For example, West Virginia American Water President Jeff McIntyre told reporters on Friday that his company didn't know much about the chemical's possible dangers, wasn't aware of an effective treatment process, and wasn't even sure exactly how much 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol is too much.
This despite being made aware the facility was there
OSHA inspectors started to examine the facility in November 2009 as part of a program of special emphasis looking at accidents that prompted amputations, records show. But they discovered that Freedom Industries was in the wrong industry classification for that program, and they never did the inspection, said OSHA spokeswoman Lenore Uddyback-Fortson.
But agency officials concede that their discovery of the leak marked the first time DEP inspectors had been at the site in more than 20 years.
Initially, the DEP reported that it had no permits for the operation, and that Freedom Industries did not require any permits. The DEP said the company did not manufacture any products, that the operation was "chiefly a storage facility" with "no emissions" and that "the materials it stores are not considered hazardous."
Further review by DEP officials identified an industrial stormwater permit held by the company, but agency spokesman Tom Aluise said that the DEP had not inspected the site since 1991,
http://www.wvgazette.com/...
Ok so if you want to open a restaurant you have to have a permit. The Health Dept has to OK that permit and then you have to be inspected before you open.
Then restaurants are inspected on a regular basis to make sure they are in compliance.
Yet something that could potentially affect thousands hasn't been checked out since 1991??
Hundreds of thousands without water. Businesses losing revenue. I hope there's a call for action and we don't just go back to status quo but I'm not hopeful.
Couple new things below
Three years ago this month, a team of federal experts urged the state of West Virginia to help the Kanawha Valley create a new program to prevent hazardous chemical accidents.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board recommended the step after its extensive investigation of the August 2008 explosion and fire that killed two workers at the Bayer CropScience plant in Institute.
Since then, the proposal has gone nowhere. The state Department of Health and Human Resources hasn't stepped in to provide the legal authority the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department needs to start such a program. And Kanawha County officials never funded the plan, and seldom mention that the CSB recommendation was even made.
The recommendation, modeled after a highly successful chemical safety law in Contra Costa County, Calif., would require companies to submit safety plans, require regular government safety audits of plans, and give the public a greater say in monitoring safety performance at local companies. Theoretically, the program would be funded by a fee paid by companies that make, use and store dangerous chemicals.
"Like Contra Costa County, the Kanawha Valley has many facilities that handle large quantities of hazardous materials, some of which are acutely toxic," the CSB said in its 169-page report on the Bayer explosion. "Furthermore, the valley contains environmentally sensitive areas such as the Kanawha River, which is an important transportation corridor.
"Give the public a greater say."?????? "Fee Paid by Companies to fund the program"??
WV politicians may jump in front of the camera and pray with loved ones during a mine disaster, or pass out bottles of water now, but be sure that giving the public a greater say or charging businesses is not on their agenda.
During a press conference Saturday night, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said he would work with the state Department of Environmental Protection to consider tighter regulation of chemical storage facilities in the ongoing legislative session.
"There are certain reporting things that companies have to do," the governor told reporters. "And I do think we have to look at them to make sure this kind of incident does not happen again."
But so far, neither the governor's office nor the DHHR have responded to a specific question from the Gazette about whether they would move to implement the CSB's recommendation.
State ignored plan for tougher chemical oversight
By Ken Ward Jr.
http://www.wvgazette.com/...