As a chemical industry professional I always hate to hear
about a spill, particularly one that has off-site consequences; they always
make the industry look bad. One positive note about this spill is that the
local, State and federal government agencies are working hard at making information
available to folks in the area. Of course, this area has lots of experience
with this type of thing.
The affected
water company has a nice explanation of what is going-on on their web site.
A local TV station has a nice
piece with a water researcher. FEMA has an interesting page on their site for
links for trusted TWITTER® sites commenting on the situation. Lots of TWITTER
stuff, FEMA is using #WVwater hashtag.
The one dark spot in this information illumination is the
source of the spill, Freedom Industries. I have seen no reports quoting from
them and there is nothing on their web page about the spill. Now I am sure that
a large part of their silence is due to worries about liability for the costs
associated with the spill. But, it would have been nice to see a brief
statement from them acknowledging that there had been a spill, an estimate
about how much had been spilled and a brief statement about the hazards
associated with the chemical.
Please note that there was a comment
posted to my earlier blog post from an angry local resident. I understand
the point of view very well and I posted a brief response.
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