Governor Earl Ray Tomblin is moving
quickly to address the problems identified when a chemical leak along
the Elk River made tap water unusable for days for more than 300,000 people in
parts of nine West Virginia
Tomblin talked
about the proposed West Virginia Source Water Protection Act at the
State Capitol on Monday, eleven days after the leak of crude MCHM.
If approved, the legislation will
create an above ground storage tank regulatory program to ensure such
facilities are built and maintained under consistent safety standards. As
part of it, companies will have to self-report the location of all above ground
storage tanks and detail the construction and maintenance on each tank.
The state Department of
Environmental Protection will be able to assess penalties for a facility’s
non-compliance.
Additionally, all public water
systems will have to have written plans in place to prepare for emergencies,
especially those involving possible contaminants discharged into the water
supply.
“It’s aimed at protecting our
public safety by requiring companies to act in a responsible manner,” said
Jason Pizatella, Tomblin Administration deputy chief of staff. “Accidents
do happen, but this legislation will go very, very far in trying to prevent
something like this from ever happening again.”
A coal processing chemical, an
estimated 7,500 gallons of crude MCHM, leaked from a tank Freedom
Industries owns in Charleston
“The fact that Freedom Industries
was allowed to operate the way it was and the secondary containment was able to
deteriorate the way it did is something that shouldn’t happen again,” said
Pizatella.
Already, the state House of
Delegates has approved a bill that would provide financial assistance to the
small businesses that were forced to close because of the water emergency.
A separate regulatory bill is
pending in the state Senate.
