West Virginia Residents Face 5th Day Without Tap Water
Hundreds of thousands of West Virginia residents are on their fifth day without safe tap water after a chemical spill in the Elk River. The company Freedom Industries leaked up to 7,500 gallons of an agent used in coal extraction on Thursday. Residents have been barred from drinking, cooking or bathing with water from their taps. Scores of schools and businesses have been closed, including in the state capital, Charleston. The head of the West Virginia Water Company told residents to only use water for flushing toilets. Dozens of people have been hospitalized since the spill, with symptoms including nausea, vomiting, dizziness, diarrhea, rashes and reddened skin. On Sunday, West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said the amount of chemicals in the water is on the decline, but offered no timeline on when it will be safe.
No Inspections at West Virginia Plant Behind Chemical Leak Since 1991
Environmental inspectors have not visited the Freedom Industries facility behind the West Virginia chemical spill since 1991. Under West Virginia law, chemicals storage facilities are not even subject to inspections. The chemical, known as MCHM, does not receive close federal or state oversight. The plant also had no groundwater protection plan in place.
Millionair’s Congress
a new study says that for the first ever a majority of U.S. congressmembers are millionaires. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, at least 268 of 534 members of Congress were worth an average of $1 million in 2012.