There is at least one new job in West Virginia.

A worker dismantles Freedom Industries chemical storage tanks. (Tyler Evert/AP)

By Letter to the Editor
March 28, 2014

Over spring break, (click here) Swarthmore Mountain Justice members attended the Mountain Justice Spring Break in Doddridge County, West Virginia. During panels and discussions throughout the week, we heard directly from people in West Virginia who have seen their backyards fracked, their local mountaintops blown off, and their water poisoned.

Tragically, on January 9th, a chemical called 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol (MCHM), which is used to wash coal before combustion, spilled into the Elk River, and in days contaminated the water of over 300,000 people. Over a month later, residents still lack access to clean water, forcing many to continue purchasing bottled water, which presents a challenge for low-income individuals as well as the disabled and elderly. While in West Virginia over spring break we helped distribute bottled water in Charleston to residents who are still suffering the effects of this spill....

This is still going on? 

 

Marin Cogan 

Mar 28 2014, 2:00 PM

Robert Thaw was in the woods (click here) when he first heard the news. Every Thursday night, the Charleston-based surveyor and his friends take their mountain bikes to the Kanawha State Forest for a long, punishing ride to work off stress and energy from the week. That night, January 9, they emerged from the forest to find a note stuck to the windshield of his friend's truck.

The note was from his friend's wife. "The water company has issued a do not use order. Come home!" it read. Robert loaded his mountain bike into the back of his Jeep Laredo and raced to his house.

While he was on his bike ride, his wife, Laura, an occupational therapist, had been at home rinsing steaks for dinner....

..."Nobody really knows how dangerous it could be. However, it is in the system," Tomblin said. "Please don't drink, don't wash with, don't do anything with the water."

Laura looked at the steaks for a moment before throwing them in the trash.
She grabbed her purse and went straight to the grocery store. It was a chaotic scene: people grabbing grocery carts and running to stock as much water as they could. Roughly a dozen 911 calls came in that night about people fighting over the water; police were ordered to step up patrols around convenience stores. A long line extended from the back of Laura's store, where employees were handing out everything they had. She spotted her mother-in-law, slipped in line beside her, and got two cases of bottled water. By the time she reached the register, the store had sold out....

The company was never in chaos, they knew they would abandon the entire disaster, leave it to the EPA and West Virginia. It was the people that were in complete chaos. I suppose folks simply get used to it, right? No stress. Nothing that will imperil lives and scare the wits out of children. Right? Peaceful, productive lives with a keen eye on the horizon of retirement and the wealth they need to afford it. The peaceful community children need to grow up in so they can attend school without interruption and go on to learn, graduate, find a job or if lucky a career and achieve the American Dream.

Hey, but, what good does The Clean Water Act do anyone? It is just a REGULATION that puts people out of work. In Kentucky's 5th district and West Virginia one might ask, what work?