10 Questions West Virginians Should Be Asking About the Water Crisis

On Thursday, January 9, 2014, residents of the Kanawha Valley in West Virginia learned that a chemical used to clean coal, 4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol (a.k.a., MCHM), had been spilled into the Elk River, upstream of a primary water supply.  The company responsible for the spill was Freedom Industries.  Many had suspected there was a problem all day in "Chemical Valley," as there was a notable licorice scent in the air, a scent we later learned was MCHM.  A strict "Do Not Use" order was sent from West Virginia American Water, effectively cutting water off for 300,000 people.  Schools were closed, restaurants and other businesses shut down, and medical procedures were postponed as we were told the water was only safe for flushing toilets.

In my opinion, every West Virginian should be asking our leadership these questions:

1. Why are MCHM and other chemical agents produced in the Kanawha Valley unregulated by state or federal code?  After multiple chemical spills in the valley, why has the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act not been reformed to protect us from these substances?
2. Why is virtually nothing known about the toxicity of MCHM?  How can we be sure that 1 ppm is a safe level for use?  Who provided that information?  What tests were conducted?
3. Why has Tomblin's DEP (and Manchin's before him) not been strengthened to protect our water sources?  How is it possible that this plant was last inspected in 1991?
4. Why has Attorney General Patrick Morrisey's sole action been to warn against water price-gouging?  Why has he not acted against Freedom Industries on behalf of West Virginia citizens?
5. Why is it that Senator Joe Manchin, Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito, and Governor Earl Ray Tomblin felt the need to immediately spin the disaster as not in any way related to coal?  How does that even make sense, given the fact that MCHM is used in the cleaning of coal?
6. Why do Sen. Manchin and Rep. Capito continue to attack the regulatory power of the EPA, even in light of these events?
7. Why do 300,000 people in a rural state like West Virginia rely on a single water source?  Is it related to the fact that local water tables have been polluted by coal slurry?  
8. How has the privatization of our water affected the water quality, and can we expect this trend to continue?
9. Why was Freedom Industries allowed to file chapter 11 protection and be repurchased by the same owners under the guise of Mountaineer Funding, LLC, a newly-created entity that did not exist until the date of the filing?
10. What did any of West Virginia's elected leaders do prior to January 9th to prevent this crisis from happening?