http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201403170075
March 17, 2014
Many chemical spill questions remain, first WVTAP reports say
By Ken Ward Jr.

(short excerpts from a much longer article)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Two new reports from an independent team confirmed Monday that people can smell extremely low concentrations of Crude MCHM and that significant data gaps exist that cloud what is known about the potential public health impacts of January's Elk River chemical spill.

The reports from the West Virginia Testing Assessment Project, or WVTAP, outlined findings about the odor threshold for Crude MCHM and summarized the limited data about the toxicity of that chemical and others spilled into the Elk River on Jan. 9 by Freedom Industries...

... In its other report, a review of potential health effects of the spilled chemicals, the WVTAP team gave a more detailed description than government officials had previously provided, while emphasizing that there is little scientific data about the materials involved.

"Very limited toxicological data has been reported for MCHM Crude or pure MCHM," says the health effects review, co-authored by Craig Adams, an environmental engineer at Utah State University.... MORE

http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140403/GZ01/140409738
The Charleston Gazette
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Spurred by MCHM leak, Rockefeller, Manchin push national chemical-tank bill
By David Gutman, Staff writer - See more at: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140403/GZ01/140409738#sthash.CdA6ZKGw.dpuf

The Elk River chemical leak spurred state legislators to pass a law requiring inspection of chemical storage tanks in West Virginia. On Thursday, the state’s two U.S. senators moved a bit closer to passing similar legislation that would cover storage tanks across the country.

The bill, sponsored by Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin, both D-W.Va., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., would require states to set up an inspection program for above-ground chemical storage tanks like the one that leaked the coal-cleaning chemical Crude MCHM into the Elk River in January.

The bill passed the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday by a 16-2 vote, with two Republican senators voting no. It now heads to the full Senate. Were it to pass in the Democrat-controlled Senate — where it would need 60 votes to advance — the bill would move to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where its prospects for passage seem slim. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., has introduced a similar bill in the House that has not advanced.

Days after the leak was discovered, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said no new regulations are needed. (Of course he'd say that! )

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/briefs/x4605597/Spill-company-wants-to-sell-to-related-business
The Huntington Herald Gazette
Spill company wants to sell to related business
May. 06, 2014 @ 07:14 PM
The Associated Press

CHARLESTON — The now-bankrupt company at the center of West Virginia’s chemical spill wants to sell what’s left at its other site to a company tied to former executives.

Freedom Industries filed court motions Monday seeking permission to sell chemicals and property in Nitro at Poca Blending, which Freedom leases. Lexycon LLC would be the buyer.

Lexycon President Kevin Skiles and independent consultant Dennis Farrell are former Freedom executives. Lexycon was formed in Florida in March.

A Jan. 9 spill at Freedom’s main Charleston location contaminated 300,000 people’s tap water for four to 10 days. The facility along the Elk River is under state orders to be demolished. Federal investigators are currently carving up the tanks on site for evidence.... MORE

The Charleston Gazette
Thursday, May 22, 2014
CDC defends MCHM screening level
By Ken Ward Jr., Staff writer

The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is defending his agency’s actions in setting a screening level for exposure to the chemicals that contaminated the drinking water of 300,000 West Virginians following the Crude MCHM leak at Freedom Industries in early January.

Dr. Thomas Frieden insisted in a letter to Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., that the CDC had used “established, scientifically validated and recognized methods” to develop the 1-part-per-million number that state officials used as a guideline to advice residents it was safe to resume drinking and otherwise using tap water provided by West Virginia American Water after the coal-cleaning chemical leaked into the Elk River in Charleston.

The CDC’s work has been widely criticized by residents and outside experts and, recently, a team of experts appointed by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin concluded the federal agency’s screening level was not nearly stringent enough to fully protect public health.

In a Tuesday letter to Capito, Frieden responded to a list of questions the congresswoman had submitted a month ago, after a Gazette report that detailed how the CDC considered — but then abandoned — development of a separate screening level to address potential health impacts from not just drinking MCHM-contaminated water but also breathing the chemical’s fumes.

- See more at: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140522/GZ01/140529699/1419#sthash.ABsUhKoO.dpuf

This is from the May 8th edition of The Marietta Times in Marietta, Ohio: "Gas, mud leak from well" .. http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/content.detail/id/5599871/gas-mud-leak-from-well.html ... When this story came out earlier this month, it was reported that 40 barrels (1680 gallons) was spilled from a newly-drilled hydraulic-fracturing well in Morgan County (just north of here). Later, the amount was changed to 100 barrels (4200 gallons). Note that The Times article (The Times has a favorable editorial opinion of the shale-gas activities here and do not want to "kill the golden goose&quot plays down the amount spilled and says that "barrels" are not "drums" (55 gallons) .... The leak was into Cow Run near Beverly, Ohio. Cow Run flows into the Muskingum near Lowell. Marietta gets some of its drinking water from three wells, but relies upon the Muskingum for most of its drinking water. There has been NO follow-up on this story since May 8th ... While minor (?) in comparison to the chemical spills in the Elk and Kanawha valleys, pollution is still pollution - especially if one smells a cover-up before they smell the oil ... If anyone knows more about this, please let us know.

Even with a google search the story seemed to drop off the map after the 8th. There is a follow-up report on the cleanup in today's Marietta paper but I can't access the entire article as I'm not subscribed.

Cleanup ongoing at site of gas leak:
http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/content.detail/id/560769/Cleanup-ongoing-at-site-of-gas-leak.html?nav=5002

Finally, there is an article in today's May 29th Marietta Times that says that spokesmen for PDC Energy, the Colorado-based company whose hydraulic-fracturing well in Morgan County "sprang a leak" on May 4th, are saying that their cleanup "is almost complete", but that "there is still a ways to go before the well-pad is cleaned and operations can begin again." No mention of testing the water in Cow Run near Beverly, Ohio or checking to see if any of the gummy toxic waste made flowed into the Muskingum River ... These folks need to be watched carefully!

I visited their website fully expecting to find SOME news or report on the spill. Nope. In fact, there doesn't seem to be any news on any spills whatsoever. The site seems to be designed solely to give themselves hearty pats on the back and justify whatever they're paying their PR people.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/21957-frackgate-ohio-regulators-planned-to-subvert-eco-groups-promote-fracking-in-state-parks

I get most of my fracking news from the Athens papers, where the anti-fracking movement has a lot of support. But the system is so corrupt and the payouts/bribes so lucrative, I don't know how even a vigorous citizen's movement can slow down the reckless fracking boom.

I have posted a number of threads to DU on fracking operations in Ohio but that was before the Appalachian Group was formed:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112750694
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1071853
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1071801
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1071812
http://www.democraticunderground.com/112750977

June 7th - The Marietta Times reported that Crissa Cummings, 42, of Millfield in Athens County was arrested and charged with trespassing for chaining herself to a fence at a fracking waste-transfer station off U.S. 50 near Athens, owned by K & H Partners LLC of Parkersburg. Mrs. Cummings is a member of "Resist", a group concerned that these operations will pollute ground water and local wells. The ODNR has reported that "about 12 tons of waste" have been removed from the site where a casing slipped loose in January, but the operation is still running. She said "I'm afraid I'm going to be forced away from my family." K & H LLC spokesman, Jeff Harper "could not be reached for comment" ... Why is this no surprise? ... BTW - The local "drill, baby, drill" crowd has been busy trashing Mrs. Cummings and suggesting that, if she was "so afraid of contamination", she should not have chained herself to the gate ... Obviously, these characters don't approve of "civil disobedience" - unless it is carried out by thugs who carry long-guns into fast-food restaurants or flock to aid some jerk-wad cattle baron who has been grazing his cattle on public land without paying for it ...

The Huntington Herald Dispatch
AP COVERAGE
Jun 16, 2:26 PM EDT
W.Va. company to staff site of spill around clock

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- The company that spilled chemicals into West Virginia's largest water supply in January will staff the site around the clock to prevent further discharges during cleanup.

After spilling stormwater into the Elk River twice last week, Freedom Industries told the state Department of Environmental Protection it would keep contractors at its Charleston site 24 hours a day. The company also plans to double its capacity to pump stormwater from the trench that spilled.

Regulators said Thursday's spill sent a small amount of water into the river. A 50-minute overflow occurred Friday during a thunderstorm.

Initial violations include allowing a discharge from an unpermitted outlet and not implementing an approved sump management plan, per state orders....

MORE at: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WV_CHEMICAL_SPILL_WVOL-?SITE=WVHUN&SECTION=news&TEMPLATE=hddefault&CTIME=2014-06-16-14-26-54

The Times West Virginian
June 28, 2014
Judge defends secrecy in spill company bankruptcy
Associated Press Sat Jun 28, 2014

CHARLESTON — A judge has defended his decision to let the company that spilled chemicals into West Virginia’s biggest drinking water supply file some financial statements out of public view.

According to The Charleston Gazette, Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson in Charleston wrote Thursday that Freedom Industries should provide periodic updates on the Charleston spill site cleanup.

“Given the public nature of this case, the court feels a responsibility to ensure the public that the environmental issues are being dealt with responsibly and that the bankruptcy process continue with full recognition and compliance with laws that protect the environment and public safety, all of which are to be adhered to in this and any bankruptcy case,” Pearson wrote.

In April, Pearson signed an order requiring periodic future budget plans, but letting them remain shielded from disclosure from the public. The spending plans give the court an idea of what Freedom expects to spend, how much cash they could have and what will be available for environmental cleanup....

- See more at: http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/x1736689010/Judge-defends-secrecy-in-spill-company-bankruptcy#sthash.3i5RTDgH.dpuf

The Charleston Gazette
Charleston, WV
Monday, July 7, 2014
CDC survey says one-fifth of residents reported health issues after spill
By Ken Ward Jr., Staff writer

A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says more than one-fifth of households surveyed in the Kanawha Valley reported health effects that residents believed were related to toxic exposure following the January chemical leak from the Freedom Industries facility on the Elk River.

Like previous reports, the new CDC data says that most of the health effects involved rashes and skin irritation, with smaller numbers reporting respiratory illnesses, nausea or diarrhea. More than half of the households that reported any symptoms said they did not seek medical attention. Most residents said the problems were not serious enough, though some said they were concerned about the costs of treatment.

The CDC findings also supported the results of a Kanawha-Charleston Health Department survey, which found that as late as April, only about a third of area residents had resumed drinking tap water provided by West Virginia American Water’s regional treatment and distribution system.

Department of Health and Human Resources officials released the 66-page CDC report Monday afternoon. It shows the results of what the CDC calls a Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response, or CASPER. In this case, the CDC interviewed members of 171 area households to gather information about the leak’s impacts.

- See more at: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140707/GZ01/140709514/1419#sthash.tbH5t1Ek.dpuf

The Times West Virginian
July 11, 2014
Study: Spilled chemical could be more toxic
By Jonathan Mattise Associated Press
Fri Jul 11, 2014

CHARLESTON — A new study shows a chemical that spilled into West Virginia’s biggest drinking water supply in January could be more toxic than a previous test indicated.

University of South Alabama researcher Andrew Whelton released findings Thursday from crude MCHM toxicity tests on water fleas. The freshwater microcrustacean is often used in toxicological studies.

The results indicate that it takes much less exposure for the chemical to be toxic to the fleas than an earlier study showed. Eastman Chemical, crude MCHM’s manufacturer, conducted the one-time study on fleas in 1998.

Whelton tried to replicate Eastman’s results three times, but couldn’t. His group kept finding the fleas were eight times more sensitive to the chemical than Eastman reported....

- See more at: http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/x1667066817/Study-Spilled-chemical-could-be-more-toxic#sthash.c4e4kEs6.dpuf

The Register Herald
Beckley, West Virginia
July 19, 2014
$2.9 million settlement proposed for chemical spill cases
Associated Press

CHARLESTON — At least $2.9 million could fuel additional studies as part of a proposed settlement between West Virginia businesses and residents and the company that contaminated their water supply.

A deal between lawyers for Freedom Industries and businesses and people who sued Freedom was filed Friday in Charleston federal court.

It needs approval in both U.S. district and bankruptcy court.

Attorney Anthony Majestro, representing some plaintiffs, says a board would decide what projects benefiting the public good would receive money. It is unclear who would be on the board.

Long-term medical monitoring for the nine-county area is one possibility, he said.... MORE at http://www.register-herald.com/statenews/x1278083465/-2-9-million-settlement-proposed-for-chemical-spill-cases

The Charleston Gazette
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Freedom executives want legal costs paid
By Ken Ward Jr., Staff writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The nearly $3 million settlement Freedom Industries has reached with its insurance company has hit a potential snag, as former officers of the bankrupt company try to force that insurer, AIG Specialty, to pay their personal legal costs in any civil litigation filed over Freedom’s January chemical leak.

Former Freedom officers Dennis Farrell, Charles Herzing and William Tis filed formal objections to the insurance settlement that lawyers for area residents and businesses are hoping will fund a separate proposed settlement that could help perform additional water testing, health impacts studies or other projects to benefit those harmed by the leak.

The three men argue that Freedom’s settlement with AIG would wrongly allow the insurance company to avoid paying the costs of a reasonable legal defense, while Freedom and AIG say the leak wasn’t covered by the section of Freedom’s policy that provides company officers with insurer-funded attorneys.

At the request of Freedom lawyer Mark Freedlander, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson gave the various sides 10 days to work out an arrangement, but said if that doesn’t happen he wanted more legal briefs on the matter to help him make a decision....

- See more at: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140722/GZ01/140729765/1419#sthash.rtZtANkI.dpuf

The Charleston Gazette
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
PSC ‘extremely concerned’ about dispute over spill probe’s scope
By Ken Ward Jr., Staff writer

The state Public Service Commission said Tuesday that it is “extremely concerned” about its investigation of West Virginia American Water Co.’s response to the Elk River chemical spill, citing a growing dispute in which businesses, local citizens and the commission’s own Consumer Advocate Division argue the water company is wrongly trying to narrow the scope of the inquiry.

Saying the dispute is going to “require additional time to unravel,” commissioners temporarily postponed further action in the case and set a hearing -- some of which they said may be held behind closed doors -- to try to resolve West Virginia American’s objections to requests that it turn over records about whatever emergency planning it conducted prior to the January spill.

“The commission had hoped that, by more specifically identifying the key issue in this proceeding, we could shorten discovery, avoid untold discovery disputes and streamline the preparation and prosecution of this case,” the PSC said in a 10-page order. “Even (reasonably) tough-minded administrative bodies can be naive.”

Faced with a “significant” number of complaints from area residents and water company customers, the PSC announced in late May that it would conduct a “general investigation” of how West Virginia American handled the contamination of its Elk River drinking water supply with chemicals from the Freedom Industries tank farm just 1.5 miles upstream....

See more at: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20140805/GZ01/140809628/1419#sthash.DgmHrFP7.dpuf

The Charleston Gazette
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Freedom Industries bankruptcy inquiry ‘frozen’ during cleanup
By Ken Ward Jr., Staff writer

Officials managing the bankruptcy of Freedom Industries have yet to investigate whether Freedom could take legal action against any of the company’s former officers over the events that led to the January chemical leak into the Elk River, court records show.

So far, there also has been no investigation of whether Freedom is owed money for fraudulent transfers of funds that — if recovered — could be used to pay Freedom’s creditors and to compensate victims of the leak.

The investigations appear to be on hold while U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Ronald Pearson presses Freedom to focus on cleaning up the site, even though any recovered money also could be funneled to that project to ensure proper remediation of any contamination at Freedom’s facility just 1.5 miles up the Elk River from the region’s drinking-water intake.

In a legal filing last month, a court-appointed committee of Freedom creditors said “a critical component of this case” is to investigate whether Freedom’s bankruptcy estate “has any causes of action that should be pursued for the benefit of creditors.”

- See more at: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20141005/GZ01/141009660/1419#sthash.KeWgCx3n.dpuf

The Charleston Gazette
Thursday, November 13, 2014
DEP reaches new deal over Freedom Industries site
By Ken Ward Jr., Staff writer

State regulators are proposing a new agreement with Freedom Industries that the bankrupt company hopes will pave the way for it to enter a “voluntary” toxic cleanup program, a move that could reduce the amount of contaminated material they have to remove from the site of January’s Elk River chemical spill.

The state Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday morning released a copy of its new seven-page consent order worked out between Freedom officials and the DEP’s Division of Water and Waste Management. The deal is subject to a public comment period before final approval by DEP.

Under the agreement, the DEP would lift the terms of previous enforcement orders that would require Freedom Industries to cleanup and remove “all” contaminated soil and groundwater” from its Etowah Terminal site, located just 1.5 miles upstream from the West Virginia American Water Company regional drinking water intake.

Freedom would then be eligible to apply for the DEP’s Voluntary Remediation Program. If accepted into that program, the company could use a “risk-based” approach that Freedom officials hope reduce the amount of contamination they would have to dig up and remove from the site....

- See more at: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20141113/GZ01/141119655/1419#sthash.GdEoXCYX.dpuf