On Sun, 12 Jan 2014 22:05:33 -0800, Billy <
wild...@withouta.net>
wrote:
>�While I am a great believer in the free enterprise system and all that
>it entails, I am an even stronger believer in the right of our people to
>live in a clean and pollution-free environment.�
>~Barry Goldwater
The wonders of the Tea Party dystopia unfold before us in West
Virginia.
Chemical spill a blow to W.Va. capital's economy
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/national/south/2014/01/chemical_spill_a_blow_to_wva_capitals_economy
CHARLESTON, W.Va. � On the third day without clean tap water, business
owners with empty dining rooms and quiet aisles of merchandise around
West Virginia's capital were left to wonder how much of an economic
hit they'll take from a chemical spill.
Most visitors have cleared out of Charleston while locals are either
staying home or driving out of the area to find somewhere they can get
a hot meal or a shower. Orders not to use tap water for much other
than flushing toilets mean that the spill is an emergency not just for
the environment but also for local businesses.
A water company executive said Saturday that it could be days before
uncontaminated water is flowing again for about 300,000 people in nine
West Virginia counties. The uncertainty means it's impossible to
estimate the economic impact of the spill yet, said the leader of the
local chamber of commerce.
Virtually every restaurant was closed Saturday, unable to use water to
prepare food, wash dishes or clean employees' hands. Meanwhile, hotels
had emptied and foot traffic was down at many retail stores.
"I haven't been able to cook anything at home and was hoping they were
open," Bill Rogers, 52, said outside a closed Tudor's Biscuit World in
Marmet, just east of Charleston. "It seems like every place is closed.
It's frustrating. Really frustrating."
In downtown Charleston, the Capitol Street row of restaurants and bars
were locked up. Amid them, The Consignment Company was open, but
business was miserable. The second-hand shop's owner said she relies
on customers who come downtown to eat and drink.
"It's like a ghost town," Tammy Krepshaw said. "I feel really bad for
all my neighbors. It's sad."
The person she doesn't feel bad for is Freedom Industries President
Gary Southern, who told reporters the day before that he was having a
long day and quickly wrapped up a news conference on the chemical
spill so he could fly out of the area.
According to Department of Environmental Protection officials, Freedom
Industries is exempt from DEP inspections and permitting since it
stores chemicals, and doesn't produce them.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said he will work with his environmental agency
head to look into tighter regulation of chemical storage facilities in
the ongoing legislative session.
"There are certain reporting things that companies have to do,"
Tomblin said. "And I do think we have to look at them to make sure
this kind of incident does not happen again."
State ignored plan for tougher chemical oversight
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201401120021
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.
Now, with more than 300,000 residents across the Kanawha Valley
without usable water following a chemical accident at Freedom
Industries on the Elk River, some local officials say it's time for
action.
"We'd had their recommendation on the books for several years now,"
said Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the local health department. "This
gives us another opportunity to look at what they recommended."
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.
The CSB's proposal for a new "Hazardous Chemical Release Prevention
Program," was the central recommendation in the agency's lengthy
report on the Bayer explosion. Board members repeated the
recommendation again in September 2011, when they released a report on
a series of accidents that killed one worker at the DuPont Co. plant
in Belle.
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.
"Yet, the local government does not have the authority to directly
participate in facility safety planning and oversight even though many
community stakeholders have long campaigned for such authority and
involvement," the report said. "The local government could adopt
regulations and implement a program similar to Contra Costa County
that would likely improve stakeholder awareness and improve emergency
planning and accident prevention."
Under the board's recommendation, the DHHR would use its existing
legal authority for rules governing "occupational and industrial
health hazards" to assist the Kanawha-Charleston health agency in
setting up the program - not just for the Kanawha Valley, but for
industry across the state.
After the board's recommendations, the Kanawha-Charleston Health
Department embraced the proposal, but worried other important parties
- the state and industry - would oppose it.
"I don't think it's going to be very difficult to develop a program,"
Gupta said in January 2011. "The real question is, are people going to
play."