“Disaster" in West Virginia....

[busterbrown]

Man this shit is getting scary...

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/09/22245996-west-virginia-chemical-spill-cuts-water-to-up-to-300000-state-of-emergency-declared?lite

[JaneyVee]

1. Another unregulated private corporation.

Socialism (taxpayers) will clean up this capitalist mess.

[laundry_queen]

47. Sure gets old doesn't it? nt

[rdharma]

2. "Clean Coal", eh?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

3. Let me guess. Underinsured and filing BK as soon as the bill comes due.

Leaving the evil federal government to pick up the tab.

[rdharma]

5. Another case of "unfortunate externalities" that result from poorly regulated coal extraction. nt

[justiceischeap]

4. What I find amazing about that article is that it waits until the very end

to state what the chemical had to do with. Not once was it addressed how the spill took place.

[El_Johns]

31. And no mention of who the actual guilty parties are. The only clue is that the chemical is

for washing coal.

I'd think that would be pretty easy to track down.

[underpants]

6. If this where I think it is...

It is in the area just east of Charleston. A massive area if chemical plants along the river. It is about 150 feet below I64- driven/rode past it all my life on trips to see the relatives in West Va.

I always thought it a strangely large concentration of such potential catastrophe. On 9/11 the first place my mom thought the "missing planes" might be headed was there.

[In_The_Wind]

16. It's on the Elk River.

[underpants]

26. Yep where I thought it was- 6 blocks from the water utility

Freedom Industries (really?)
1015 Barlow drive

The WV American Water is at....1600 Pennsylvania Ave (no really)

That whole area is nothing but chemical plants

[Auggie]

29. FYI: The Elk River empties into the Kanawha River and that empties into the Ohio

Far-reaching mess

[In_The_Wind]

30. It's going to be a big problem.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/11/us/west-virginia-chemical-spill.html?_r=1

[Hassin Bin Sober]

33. Whoda thunk placing those chemical plants next to the drinking supply would be a problem?

[In_The_Wind]

38. There's lots of riverside land being used unsafely.

[laundry_queen]

49. No one could've imagined....nt

[jeff47]

7. Don't know that you need the quotes in the title. (nt)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

10. they aren't.

[jeff47]

12. Title of the OP. It is an actual disaster, not a "disaster". (nt)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

13. because it is. yes. the quotes in the OP are sarcastic, I hope.

[Aerows]

8. Fox: The henhouse is being too closely regulated

It would be far better if they just let me watch over it.

[LadyHawkAZ]

9. Don't worry. The invisible hand of the free market will be along any minute now

and the water will be clean as a whistle by morning.. Any minute now...

[Demo_Chris]

11. So what exactly are these 300K people supposed to do?

[onestepforward]

14. That's what I've been wondering.

You can buy bottled water to drink, but not to shower or simply wash your hands. I feel bad for folks who don't have another place to go to. What a mess.

[Demo_Chris]

17. It seems to me that if it is this dangerous you shouldn't be near it...

I mean, that seems to make sense to me. If you cannot wash your hands in it you don't want it anywhere near you. Hell, you probably don't want it in your toilet. So are these people supposed to evacuate, or move, or what?

[onestepforward]

19. Good question.

There's not much information that I've found so far except don't wash clothes, bath, drink or cook with water. People can't live like that.

[Demo_Chris]

27. Unreal. nt

[Hassin Bin Sober]

15. see post #9 The Invisible Hand of The Free Market will fix this.

Last edited Fri Jan 10, 2014, 02:51 PM - Edit history (1)

The 300k people will now buy their 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol from other vendors thereby punishing Freedom ( ) Industries.

Water bottle scalpers have already appeared to price gouge people in need of water. But this is a good thing, according to John Stossel, because The Invisible Hand of The Free Market will ensure water bottles only go to people who REALLY need deserve them.

[Demo_Chris]

18. There is that :)

[busterbrown]

24. I really wish the idiot would read this...

You nailed it!! Except you left out the word “deserve” You know the productive members of society..

[Hassin Bin Sober]

25. Done

edit to add: I've mentioned his name too many times not to invoke my Stossel rule:

This has to be posted when his name comes up:

[busterbrown]

32. Man, this is terrific...

your post offers a wide variety of vicarious thrills..
Too many to mention..

[gvstn]

36. Thank you!

[theHandpuppet]

21. Not just people, either

Untold numbers of wildlife, who can't read the warnings and don't watch TV.

[jakeXT]

20. "Everybody's wanting water, and there is no water,"

"Everybody's wanting water, and there is no water," said grocery store manager Jeff Joseph," and that brings concern."

State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey warned residents about price gouging on water, ice and other items, calling it "just plain wrong" to inflate prices and encouraging those who've seen such practices to report them to his office's consumer protection division.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/some-people-treated-for-water-related-issues-in-w-va/

[Hassin Bin Sober]

22. State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey must be one of them commie libruls.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/11/01/in-praise-price-gouging/

In praise of 'price gouging'

By John Stossel/
Published November 01, 2012/
FoxNews.com

What politicians call “gouging” is just the free market. When markets are allowed to work their magic, lines disappear. The high price is a big flag planted in the ground that says, “Hey, come over here and make money.”

[underpants]

23. WV Nat Guard is mobilizing with water tankers

I heard this morning.

[Delphinus]

43. Now

*this* is what scares me the most - wanting water and there is no water.

[2naSalit]

28. The ENTIRE cost of the

water distribution and all activities, including all small businesses that can't function need to be compensated entirely by this company, every last penny, no gov't help!!!!

Fuck them and anyone who has helped them get to the point of deregulated sloppiness that has allowed this to happen.

[busterbrown]

34. Oh come on...

Sometimes govt. can be useful...
Good maid service his hard too come by these days...

As the country grows older be prepared for many more of these events..

[2naSalit]

37. I was around when

the Cuyahoga River caught fire and I lived in the factory towns of New England when walking across a bridge over any river was enough to kill you from fumes before you could stumble to the opposite side and smog so bad in most cities anywhere that your eyes burned and you couldn't see more than a mile.

Been there, not interested in seeing that shit return, ever.

[Staph]

35. I live 50 miles west of Charleston --

same water company, but served from a different plant.

This is scarier than you all think. I spent a large part of last evening searching the Internet for the MSDS (material safety data sheet) for this chemical. If I found the right one (I'm not a chemist), there isn't much information. "The toxicological properties of this substance have not been fully investigated." seems to be the standard answer.

But a couple of things stood out to me, the non-scientist.

1) The chemical in insoluble in water. The estimates from last night were that no more than 5000 gallons of the chemical had slipped into the Elk River. Five thousand gallons that won't be diluted into a somewhat safer liquid.

That spot on the Elk River is just a few miles from its confluence with the Kanawha River. And another 60 or so miles down the Kanawha River, it flows into the Ohio River.

So what is potentially in the path of this insoluble chemical? Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, New Orleans. This isn't just a little problem for those hicks in West Virginia. Who cares about those inbred, moonshine-swilling hillbillies (from a comment on the MSNBC website)? Maybe you can worry about the nine states downstream.

2) The products of degradation are more toxic. Let that one sink in for a few moments. It's going to get worse, and it's heading down the river.

Still think that the big story today is Chris Christie?

[indie9197]

39. I think this is the MSDS. If it is, they don't know much about it

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2014/images/01/10/msds.sheet.for.4-methyl-1-cyclohexanemethanol.pdf

Maybe you chemists out there can confirm or deny if this is it

[FarCenter]

46. Not a chemist, but see reddit chemistry discussion

http://www.reddit.com/r/chemistry/comments/1uunyw/4methylcyclohexane_methanol/

[Saboburns]

40. I live right in the middle of this, things are very bad here, and getting worse.

The term being bandied around for how long this is water crisis is to last is now: Indefinite.

Madhouse at any store that sells water. Well that was last night. today there's no water to be found. Anywhere. You should see the posts on Facebook, people in need and pleading for help. It's been just over 24 hours and Society is Breaking Down. Not a gentle thought.

ALL restaraunts are closed in a nine county area.

Hospitals are closing, only accepting Emergency Pts, Other Pts are being transported outta the area.

Pretty much all Public Buildings are closed, all Gov Buildings are closed, Schools are closed.

The scariest part, to me, is that nobody, NOBODY, has uttered one word on when it will get better.

[justiceischeap]

41. I had to quickly rip off my tinfoil hat

I was seeing conspiracies when you said "society is breaking down." I'm sorry you're in the middle of such a horrible situation. The thing that no one else seems to be talking about is the waterways that intersect with the contaminated waterway. How big a "disaster" will this become?

[Saboburns]

45. Good Question

It's not everyday that every Restaurant in nine counties close their doors.

It's a large damn area being affected.

The only fix is flushing the lines, but that's not even been mentioned yet. Helluva lotta water that. I work in a large Hospital in Huntington, about ten miles outside the contaminated are, we get our water from the Ohio,we're overflowing with Pts now, and getting more tonite and tomorrow.

And another thing I ponder that nobody seems to know or comment on, the spill was in the Elk River, ten miles upstream from the Kanawha River which flows into the Ohio some fifty or so miles downstream. I would think (hope) that this chemical is diluted by then. But nobody seems quite sure of anything. As a matter of fact our Governor had a press conference today and nobody in the chemical world seems to know exactly how bad thing really are, as this isn't tested for on a regular basis.

Nobody knows much.

Nobody is saying much.

Just don't drink, bathe, cook, wash clothes, or dishes with our water.

And certainly nobody knows how long its gonna last.

[Saboburns]

42. BTW it smells like JaegerMeister.

And RedBull.

LOL

[Delphinus]

44. I'm sorry that anyone

is having to live this. Good luck to everyone!

[Homer Wells]

48. Living just South of the area

in western Logan County, WV. Damn right this is scary, and many, many of us are just plain Pissed that this has happened.
Never trust any corporation with 'Freedom' in their name, just as you never trust a business who professes it a 'Christian' run company.

[laundry_queen]

50. K&R to keep this at the top nt

[elfin]

51. Send the bill to taxpayers

get declared a disaster, send in FEMA, but never, never charge the "innocent" corporation or the state officials who failed to set and keep track of standards.

Truly scary and disgusting. Don't mess with WATER! aargh.