Ooh, That Stings! WV Water Company Criticizes Continuing Freedom Industry Spills As "Unacceptable"

Wow, the gloves are off now!!!

Freedom Industries proposed on Saturday to double its runoff pumping capacity and post contractors around the clock at its Elk River chemical tank farm, in response to demands from state regulators and in the face of strong criticism from West Virginia American Water following two spills at the site in as many days.

Mark Welch, Freedom’s chief restructing officer, said that officials from the bankrupt company “understand the importance of these issues” and are “taking action to address them.”

Welch repeated similar phrases in two letters sent Saturday to the state Department of Environmental Protection in response to separate sets of formal notices of violation issued to Freedom for allowing a runoff trench to overflow Thursday and Friday, sending potentially contaminated water pouring into the Elk.

Earlier on Saturday, the president of West Virginia American Water had said that the two stormwater spills on consecutive days at the Freedom Industries site were “completely unacceptable” and urged actions to prevent more incidents that could threaten his company’s regional drinking water intake, located just 1.5 miles downstream from Freedom. “On behalf of our customers, we urge those managing this site to improve their containment system and take additional steps to prevent such incidents,” said Jeff McIntyre, president of the water company, whose plant along the Elk River near downtown Charleston serves 300,000 people across the region.

EDIT

http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140614/GZ01/140619571