2014-02-11 15:18:00
Author Archives: Erin
Two Schools Closed Yesterday
According to the Wall Street Journal: “Two West Virginia schools dismissed students early Wednesday after a teacher and a student became ill from vapors believed to be related to last month’s chemical spill.
The sicknesses were in Belle, about 10 miles from Charleston, where about 10,000 gallons of Crude MCHM, a chemical used in coal processing, leaked into the Elk River on Jan. 9. The spill contaminated the drinking water for 300,000 residents in and around the state capital, including in Belle, for at least five days.”
Appalachian Voices Observations
Staff were on site at the spill from Monday evening through Wednesday evening. As of Wednesday evening, the coal ash pond was still discharging into the Dan River.
We have collected samples and will post results for heavy metals and other parameters as soon as they become available.
Initial Testing from NC DENR
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) reports: “Initial water quality testing performed by DENR staff on site at Duke Energy’s Dan River power plant on Tuesday showed no deviation from normal levels of temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and conductivity due to the release of water and ash from the facility’s coal ash impoundment. These initial results do NOT mean the water is safe. . . On Tuesday, the first round of water samples were delivered to a lab in Raleigh for further testing for heavy metals, sulfates, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), and total suspended solids.”
DNER is testing for:
Potassium
Cadmium
Chromium
Copper
Nickel
Lead
Zinc
Vanadium
Silver
Aluminum
Beryllium
Calcium
Cobalt
Iron
Molybdenum
Antimony
Tin
Thallium
Titanium
Lithium
Magnesium
Manganese
Sodium
Arsenic
Selenium
Mercury
Barium
Boron
Check back here for results, when they become available. We will also post them to this site.
MCHM Spill
2014-02-3 12:30:00
Coal Ash Spill from the Dan River Coal Power Plant
2014-02-3 5:30:00
MCHM Spill
2014-02-2 4:27:00
Manure Smell
2014-01-31 12:0:00
MCHM Spill
2014-01-29 3:30:00
Freedom Now Says 10,000 Gallons of Crude MCHM/PPH Spilled
According to the West Virginia DEP, “Freedom Industries has revised its estimate to approximately 10,000 gallons as the amount of Crude MCHM/PPH blend that leaked from a storage tank at its Elk River facility in Charleston on Jan. 9. It is not known how much material spilled into the Elk River and shut down the drinking water supply for citizens across nine West Virginia counties. Freedom said it has recovered approximately 1,272 gallons of MCHM/PPH blend in absorbent booms and other control devices at the spill site.”
Read more here.