5 Hospitalized After West Virginia Water Contamination Crisis: Report

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By Adario Strange2014-01-11 23:21:25 UTC

Five people have been hospitalized following a major water-contamination crisis in West Virginia, according to local news reports. Although the exact reasons for the hospitalizations have yet to be confirmed, local reports suggest that the patients' symptoms could have been caused by chemical contamination of the water supply.

Government officials in West Virginia declared a state of emergency on Thursday in nine counties due to water contamination that has impacted over 300,000 local residents. Due to the contaminated supply, residents in the affected areas have been unable to drink tap water or use it to bathe, cook or even wash clothes for several days.

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The situation reached a critical point Thursday when residents of Kanawha County reported smelling a licorice smell in the air, which was traced back to a 35,000-gallon chemical storage tank based near the Elk River.

Operated by Freedom Industries, the storage tank reportedly overflowed and eventually contaminated the water supply maintained by the West Virginia American Water Co. plant, according to CNN.

“West Virginians in the affected service areas are urged NOT to use tap water for drinking, cooking, washing or bathing,” West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said in a statement on his website.

Freedom Industries president Gary Southern held a televised press conference Friday during which he answered questions about the accident, while sipping a bottle of Aquafina water.

“We have been working with local and federal regulatory, safety and environmental entities, including the DEP, Coast Guard, Army Corp of Engineers and Homeland Security, and are following all necessary steps to fix the issue,” Southern said in a statement.

“At this point, Freedom Industries is still working to determine the amount of 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol, or Crude MCHM, a chemical used in processing coal, that has been released, as the first priority was safety, containment and cleanup.”

Several class-action lawsuits have already been reportedly filed against Freedom Industries in response to the still unfolding water crisis.

In a follow-up statement, Gov. Tomblin described some of the steps he has taken to ensure public safety.

“I’ve mobilized and deployed all appropriate government assets and resources, including our Office of Emergency Management, our experts at DEP, DHHR Bureau of Public Health along with our National Guard — who are out doing health and wellness checks across the area, along with collecting, testing and monitoring the water,” he said.

“The federal government is also providing assistance. The president has approved my request to issue a federal emergency declaration to provide FEMA resources.”

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Image: Tom Hindman/Getty Images

Topics: U.S., US & World, water