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The Elk River chemical spill occurred on January 9, 2014 when crude 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol (MCHM) was released from a Freedom Industries facility into the Elk River, a tributary of the Kanawha River, in Charleston in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The chemical spill occurred upstream from the principal West Virginia American Water intake and treatment and distribution center. Following the spill, up to 300,000 residents within nine counties in the Charleston, West Virginia metropolitan area were without access to potable water. The areas affected were portions of Boone, Clay, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam, and Roane counties and the Culloden area of Cabell County. Crude MCHM is a chemical foam used to wash coal and remove impurities that contribute to pollution during combustion. The "do-not-use" advisory for drinking water from West Virginia American Water's system began to be gradually lifted by West Virginia state officials on January 13 based upon "priority zones." On Tuesday, January 14, the company revealed that the tank, which leaked about 7,500 gallons into the ground by the Elk River, had also contained a mixture of glycol ethers known as PPH, with a similar function as MCHM. The chemical spill was the third chemical accident to occur in the Kanawha River Valley within the last five years. On June 12, 2014 another spill of containment water occurred at the same site.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/06/13/3448678/freedom-industries-spills-again/ )〕 == Freedom Industries == Freedom Industries was founded in 1992 by Gary Southern, and Carl L. Kennedy II. On December 31, 2013, Freedom Industries merged with three other companies, Etowah River Terminal, Poca Blending, and Crete Technologies.〔〔 Southern remained as president of the newly formed company,〔 until the company filed for bankruptcy eight days after the spill.〔 The company distributed chemicals used in coal mining.〔 Freedom Industries' Charleston facility was located along the Elk River, approximately upstream from the river's confluence with the Kanawha River, Previously in use by Etowah River Terminal, the facility stored chemicals in 14 storage tanks with a capacity of 4 million gallons. The facility stored chemicals, but did not conduct coal cleaning. Eastman Chemical Company was the manufacturer of the crude MCHM. Federal and West Virginia state regulators had not inspected the Freedom Industries chemical storage site in Charleston since 1991 when the facility was owned by Pennzoil, according to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Under state law, the facility had been required to have only an industrial storm water permit, which it possessed.〔 Freedom Industries was required to test the rain runoff every quarter, and send the results to the DEP.〔 Under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, Freedom Industries filed its "Tier Two" form in February 2013, which contained detailed information about each chemical it was storing at its Charleston facility. Following its filing of the tier two form, West Virginia state emergency response officials and Kanawha County emergency planners and responders received copies.〔 These entities received copies of the form under law so that its chemical inventory information could be utilized to prepare plans for possible accidents.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2014 Elk River chemical spill」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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