The
House of Delegates Judiciary Committee began Wednesday morning what’s expected
to be several hours of work on the bill connected with the Jan. 9 chemical
spill on the Elk River in Charleston
The
measure, which sets up a regulatory program for above ground storage tanks,
passed the state Senate earlier this session. The House has now less than 10
days to pass and come to agreement on any differences with the Senate.
The
judiciary committee heard from Evan Hansen, president of Downstream Strategies,
Wednesday morning. Hansen’s company has tested homes for the chemical MCHM
since the spill and has been part of a report on other potential hazards
upstream on the Elk River .
Hansen
told committee members having a program in place, as the bill suggests dealing
the potential hazards near water sources, could have resulted in West Virginia
American Water Company making another decision about its water intake than it
did Jan. 9.
“They
could have shut the intake,” Hansen said. “Instead of polluting the
entire distribution system, which is what happened, they could have immediately
shut the intake.”
Not
much was known about MCHM Jan. 9 and WVAWC initially thought its Kanawha Valley
Plant could handle the chemical that had spilled from the Freedom Industries
site but a few hours after the spill the system became overloaded and the Do
Not Use order was given.
