West Virginia Water Woes

By: Larissa D.

And the hits just keep coming in regard to the West Virginia water crisis...

According to Kiley Kroh, author of “West Virginia Water Contains Formadehyde, Official Says”, new concerns have come to light over the safety of our water following a chemical spill at a storage facility belonging to Freedom Industries along the Elk River at the beginning of January. Although the “do not use” ban has been lifted from all of the affected counties, Scott Simonton, a Marshall University environmental scientist and member of the state Environmental Quality Board, told a state legislative panel on Wednesday that “he ‘can guarantee’ residents are breathing in formaldehyde” while showering (Kroh).

While I was not personally affected by the spill, I sympathize with those who were, especially in light of these new developments. Water is essential to life. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to attempt to carry on my daily activities without the ability to prepare food, shower, or wash dishes and clothes within my own home, which I consider to be a sanctuary from the harshness of the outside world. I am glad that action was taken to quickly provide those residents with clean and safe drinking water, a practice that looks as though it will continue for the time being; still, I wonder how those individuals and families were able to go about their routines. My boss has family that lives in Kanawha County, and they came up to visit in Braxton County almost daily so that they could have hot showers and do laundry. I am glad that they had that option, but I know that there were so many who had nowhere to go, and my heart goes out to them.

Even now with the “do not use” ban lifted, pregnant women are still being advised to drink bottled water. Several schools in the affected districts have been forced to repeat the flushing process because the levels of crude MCHM in their water were still too high. Now there is the threat of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, sending residents into a panic all over again. With all of the uncertainty surrounding the safety of the water, I would imagine that most still refuse to drink from the tap, and I cannot blame them. More research needs to be done on the short and long term effects of the chemicals involved in the spill before we can know “for sure” that the water is safe again.

In the meantime, what can those people do in order to protect themselves and their families? Unfortunately, it would seem that the answer is “not much.” Residents must exercise their judgment regarding the use of their water. According to the guidelines set by the CDC, the water is considered safe. However, it is up to those affected persons to decide if they agree with that assessment or if they wish to pursue alternatives to using their tap water. My advice to these people would be to carefully consider the sources of the information that they are receiving regarding this matter and to do some investigation of their own to determine all of the facts before passing judgment on the safety of their water. Words can be manipulated to spur an emotional reaction, and omission of information can play a large role in the outcome.

While I would love to see a program that could offer a safe haven to the people affected by the water crisis, I know that the expense of such a feat would be too great to be shouldered by the government. The only suggestion that I could make at this point would be to reach out to the American Red Cross for assistance. While it’s true that this water crisis does not fall into the realm of a natural disaster in the traditional sense, it is disastrous nonetheless. The Red Cross may have been able to provide hot food and an evacuation shelter for those affected by the spill as they have done for persons affected by larger-scale disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina.

Looking into the future, I believe that there should be a great change in determining where companies, such as Freedom Industries, can store hazardous materials. Obviously, allowing them to be kept so close to a major water source is a terrible idea. Think about it in terms of a farm: the farmer would want to put his water tower at the top of the hill and keep his livestock below it to reduce the risk of fecal contamination. The same principle should apply to our rivers, especially those that provide water to hundreds of thousands of individuals. There needs to be a more conscious effort to protect our water supply from hazardous waste and other materials that can be produced by certain industries. It is my hope that we will see smarter building plans in the future, not just in our state, but across the nation...