100,000 West Virginians Told To Abandon Tap Water due to chemical spill

[Ed Anger]

Considering Mothers side if family is German-Irish I would think so.

Let me casually racist, ok?

[derspiess]

Local preppers are having a field day with this.  I'm Facebook friends with one because we went to high school together and she amuses me-- with all the posts her prepper friends make on her wall, it gives an interesting window into that hobby/lifestyle.

[Jacob]

Freedom Industries is a little too on the nose as a name for a company that contaminates the water supply, if it was fiction. Of course, you can't argue with reality.

[alfred russel]

Where I grew up in Florida it wasn't safe to drink the tap water. As is the case in much of the world.

[Valmy]

Where I grew up in Florida it wasn't safe to drink the tap water. As is the case in much of the world.

Well it is one thing not to be able to drink it, that is normal.  It is another not to even be able to use it for washing or cooking.

[Jacob]

Where I grew up in Florida it wasn't safe to drink the tap water. As is the case in much of the world.

3rd world conditions

[Maximus]

leaked from a tank at Freedom Industries

Freedom Industries?

We sell freedom!

Used to be called French Industries.

[dps]

...and the market in that pic doesn't look run-down based on the pic itself, but if it is a Country Mart, it's going to be chock full of crap.  I'm talking green baloney, people.

I've never heard of Country Mart, so I doubt that's what it is.  Looks like an IGA to me.

[PDH]

Well, the good news is that I am sure West Virginia has strong laws in place to punish the company doing to misdeed - much like Texas does.

[Viking]

Calling it dangerous is a bit over the top. Basically it is soap. Or, at least special industrial bubble soap. Probably not nice to drink, but certainly not arsenic... though it almost certainly contains some fungicide, herbicide and insecticide.


Basically, this is a chemical added to water which is sprayed on piles of coal (and gypsum and other fine grain bulk products) to prevent the coal dust from blowing all over the place (giving everybody cancer). Since water either evaporates, runs off (carrying much of the find dust with it) or freezes in cold termperatures chemicals were added to form a water film over the coal, keeping it moist. This means dust doesn't spread and it keeps the coal from degenerating and/or burning.

It is all round good stuff. It is basically advanced soap.

[Jacob]

That's good to know, Vike.

It's still somewhat inconvenient to have in your drinking water supply.

[The Brain]

Coal as a power source is crazy dangerous in the first place. Kills a lot of people.

[Viking]

That's good to know, Vike.

It's still somewhat inconvenient to have in your drinking water supply.

I just think it is important to remember what is being spilled when 'chemicals' (in scare quotes) are spilled. In this case this chemical makes coal production much less polluting and dangerous. Basically it takes coal production from being 'insanely dangerous' to merely being 'very dangerous'.

[derspiess]

Coal as a power source is crazy dangerous in the first place. Kills a lot of people.

Coal mining pays well.  So it's all good.

[Ed Anger]

Coal as a power source is crazy dangerous in the first place. Kills a lot of people.

Coal mining pays well.  So it's all good.

Dying early sucks though.