A Second Chemical Was Part of West Virginia Chemical Spill, Company Reveals (Click on this heading to read more)
The
chemical spill that left 300,000 West Virginia residents without usable
water involved more chemicals than the company responsible had
previously reported, officials revealed this week, leading the state’s
Department of Environmental Protection to order that company to give a
full accounting of the chemicals that had leaked into the Elk River.
The
newly disclosed chemical appears to be somewhat less toxic than MCHM,
the chemical initially identified, and it made up only a small part of
the Jan. 9 spill. But the late disclosure outraged officials and
citizens who had been hungry for reliable information.
“It
is very disturbing that we are just now finding out about this new
chemical, almost two weeks after the leak,” said West Virginia’s
secretary of state, Natalie E. Tennant, in a statement on Wednesday. She
called for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to post its
water test results online. “We must have confidence that the water
coming out of our faucets is not going to make our families sick.”
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