Business Interruption Losses from Chemical Spill Take Toll, Charleston
Restaurants and storefronts are buzzing again in West Virginia’s capital city of Charleston, but many still haven’t filled a financial hole after chemicals sullied their running water and forced them to close several days in January.
“I don’t foresee ever recouping it,” said Deno Stanley, owner of Adelphia Sports Bar & Grille in Charleston.
Among the tree-lined cluster of small businesses on Capitol Street, springtime foot traffic is up at Adelphia. Stanley said out-of-towners are back, and so is customer confidence.
It’s a welcome change, Stanley said, after Adelphia started the year by losing $38,000 in sales over eight days due to the spill. Other costs also built up, like buying bottled water for patrons and changing filters in soda and ice machines, as officials required. Bottled water is still served, he said.
Adelphia quickly filed a lawsuit after the Jan. 9 spill, now one of more than 60 civil actions targeting the companies involved. Freedom Industries, the company at the center of the spill, and West Virginia American Water, the regional water company, are named in most of them.
The spill left 300,000 people without safe drinking water for four to 10 days, spurring health departments to shut down businesses that depend on clean water, from eateries to salons. Public fear reverberated for weeks afterward, prompting many restaurants to keep cooking with and serving only bottled water. Some still haven’t switched back.
The state has estimated the nine impacted counties took a $61 million economic hit.
In addition to lawsuits, businesses tried to collect insurance claims, sought government loans and pursued other avenues. But the options available have left some businesses little confidence of recovering what’s been lost.
Danny Fazio, whose restaurant Fazio’s has been a Charleston staple for 35 years, said a loan is not what the crisis warranted, anyway.
“That’s money I lost and didn’t deserve to lose,” Fazio said. “Neither did anybody else.”
Fazio’s insurance would not cover his restaurant’s losses. Signs at the Italian eatery still assure that they’re cooking with bottled water. It’s a commitment that Fazio said has cost $10,000 over four months in extra bottled water and ice.
Adelphia’s insurance policy wouldn’t pay out a claim, either, Stanley said.
Across the area, it was hit or miss whether businesses had purchased policies that would cover interruption of business losses from the spill, said Matthew Ballard, president/CEO of the Charleston Area Alliance, a local chamber of commerce.
The public wasn’t only concerned about eating or drinking the water. Pauline’s House of Curls, located in Danville, was closed for eight days in January. For a short while after, some customers still feared using the water for hair styling, said stylist Paula Miller.
Freedom, whose aging tank leaked coal cleaning chemicals into the Elk River, crumbled into bankruptcy on Jan. 17. The move deflated hope for many suing the company, since it temporarily froze their legal actions and has left them watching the company’s financial resources dwindle from the sideline.
Lawyers for small businesses have admitted any recovered money will be a drop in the bucket, since Freedom has hundreds of groups it owes money and limited cash.
American Water Works, the profitable parent of West Virginia American Water, vowed on its latest earnings report to “vigorously contest the lawsuits.” Its West Virginia income dipped by $5.9 million in the first quarter amid the spill.
Public grant money wasn’t made available for businesses that took the financial hit.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provided meals and water after the spill, eventually approved West Virginia’s request to cover some costs after the state appealed FEMA’s denial. The aid only included some costs incurred by public agencies and nonprofits that responded to the crisis.
State and federal officials lauded two types of low-interest loans to help out. But neither lent any money to impacted West Virginia businesses.
Last legislative session, which started three days before the spill, officials reacted by creating a short-term, low-interest loan program for small businesses during declared emergencies. Some businesses asked about the aid, but couldn’t get any because lawmakers didn’t put any money into the program, said Department of Commerce spokeswoman Chelsea Ruby.
The state referred people to the federal Small Business Administration, which set up economic impact disaster loans. Ten businesses applied; six withdrew their applications, and four were denied, said administration spokesman David Hall. The names of businesses that applied and reasons they were denied are confidential, Hall said. But credit history and ability to repay the loans are taken into account.
Workers who lost hours because of the spill did get some reprieve. Through Feb. 21, United Way of Central West Virginia distributed about $112,000 in donations to 625 workers near minimum wage whose businesses closed, said local United Way President John Balangee.
State tourism officials think they found reason for optimism, however.
In an independent survey funded by the state, only one-third of residents in various surrounding markets mentioned the spill when asked what they had heard about West Virginia recently. Of those who were aware of the leak, just one in three said it made them less likely to visit.
Only one closed business, a Charleston restaurant, publicly linked its shutdown to the spill.
Chemical Spill in West Virginia Declared Disaster
A federal disaster declaration has been issued for a West Virginia chemical spill that may have contaminated tap water and prompted officials to order residents in nine counties not to bathe, brush their teeth or wash their clothes.
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We expect our drinking water to be germ free, but what about drug free?
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The declaration, made overnight, allows for direct federal assistance in dealing with the spill, Bill Hines of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said early Friday. It remained unclear how much of the chemical spilled into the river and at what concentration, or how long the advisory would last.
The federal move came shortly after Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency Thursday when the spill from Freedom Industries hit a river and a nearby water treatment plant.
Customers of West Virginia American Water in the affected areas also got the order from Tomblin on Thursday night: Do not drink, bathe, cook or wash clothes with tap water.
The chemical, a foaming agent used in the coal preparation process, leaked from a tank at Freedom Industries, overran a containment area and went into the river earlier Thursday.
Officials say the orders -- which the water company also delivered to residents via automated telephone messages -- were issued as a precaution, as they are still not sure exactly what hazard the spill posed to residents. It also was not immediately clear how much of the chemical spilled into the river and at what concentration.
"I don't know if the water is not safe," said water company president Jeff McIntyre. "Until we get out and flush the actual system and do more testing, we can't say how long this (advisory) will last at this time."
McIntyre said the chemical isn't lethal in its strongest form. Kanawha County emergency officials said the chemical is called 4-methylcyclohexane methanol. Freedom Industries officials were unavailable for comment.
According to a fact sheet from Fisher Scientific, the chemical is harmful if swallowed and causes eye and skin irritation and could be harmful if inhaled.
The emergency declaration involves customers in all or parts of the counties of Kanawha, Boone, Cabell, Clay, Jackson, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam and Roane. In the capital city of Charleston, a smell similar to licorice or cough syrup was evident in the air both outdoors and in areas where it had already reached the water supply.
The smell was especially strong at the Charleston Marriott hotel a few blocks from the Elk River, which flows into the Kanawha River in downtown Charleston. The Marriott shut off all water to rooms, and then turned it back on so guests could flush toilets. Each guest was given two 16.9-ounce bottles of spring water upon returning to the hotel.
The West Virginia National Guard planned to mobilize at an air base at Charleston's Yeager Airport on Friday to distribute bottled drinking water to emergency services agencies in the nine counties, Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety spokesman Lawrence Messina told The Associated Press.
"They're committing all necessary resources to help with this," Messina said Thursday night.
Messina said the drinking water will come from several different suppliers. After distribution, the various county agencies "will use their own game plans to distribute it, with hospitals and nursing homes getting priority," Messina said.
Most people weren't waiting for outside help.
Once word got out about the governor's declaration Thursday, customers stripped store shelves in many areas of items such as bottled water, paper cups and bowls. As many as 50 customers had lined up to buy water at a convenience store near the state Capitol in Charleston.
"It was chaos, that's what it was," cashier Danny Cardwell said.
Tomblin said the advisory also extends to restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes and other establishments that use tap water.
At the Little India restaurant in Charleston, about 12 customers were asked to leave when bar manager Bill LaCourse learned about the shutdown notice.
West Virginia lawmakers who just started their session this week won't conduct business on Friday because of the problem and State Department of Education spokeswoman Liza Cordeiro said schools in at least five of the counties will be closed.
Karlee Bolen, 16, of Charleston, said her family, including her parents, two sisters and brother, were considering the possibility of heading to her grandmother's home in Braxton County, where tap water was unaffected, an hour to the northeast.
"I kind of want to shower and brush my teeth," she said.
source : JAN 10, 2014 11:45 AM ET //
Charleston,West Virginia (CNN) - Is it really safe?
West Virginia asks feds to study
possible health effects of chemical spill
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- "Perhaps there is something going on here," says county health officer
- "We stand willing to continue to assist," says CDC spokeswoman
- A chemical spill last month led to continuing concerns about the safety of water
- "It is critical this study is funded and that work begins immediately," Gov. Tomblin says
Charleston, West Virginia (CNN) -- Is it really safe?
West Virginia's governor is asking federal authorities to do further study on the possible health effects caused by last month's chemical spill near Charleston.
"It is critical this study is funded and that work begins immediately," wrote Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in a letter Tuesday to Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On January 9, the chemical -- 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, or MCHM -- was discovered leaking from a storage tank into the Elk River and from there into Charleston's water supply. Its licorice smell alerted residents to the contamination and led to a do-not-use order for 300,000 West Virginians, some of whom could not drink or bathe in their water for more than a week.
It also underscored that little is known about the health effects of the chemical, which is used to wash coal prior to market in order to reduce ash.
The spill was originally estimated at about 7,500 gallons, but Freedom Industries said late last month that about 10,000 gallons of chemical had escaped. The company also told regulators that a second chemical -- a mix of polyglycol ethers, known as PPH -- was part of the leak.
"I am committed to the health and well-being of West Virginians and believe there is a pressing need to further study the potential health effects resulting from exposure to water contaminated with crude MCHM and PPH," Tomblin said.
An independent water test conducted early this month at CNN's request found trace levels of MCHM, both in untreated river water and in tap water from two homes in Charleston. The amounts ranged from less than 0.5 parts per billion to 1.6 parts per billion -- well below the 1 part per million that the CDC has said it considers unlikely to be associated with any adverse health effects.
"We stand willing to continue to assist and will be discussing with officials there what additional toxicology and epidemiology studies may be needed," said Laura Bellinger, a CDC spokeswoman.
Dr. Rahul Gupta, the health officer and executive director of the Kanawha-Charleston and Putnam County health departments, has called for a long-term study to be carried out "in a manner able to capture any long-term impact."
In the wake of the spill, two waves of patients sought treatment from private doctors and 10 emergency rooms in a nine-county area for non-specific symptoms such as rash, nausea, vomiting and cough, Gupta told CNN on Wednesday.
The first peak -- about 250 patients -- occurred in the first three days after the spill was reported on January 9, he said.
A lull ensued during the several days of the do-not-use advisory, followed by a second peak -- about the same number -- during the first few days after the advisory was lifted on January 13, he said.
There is widespread distrust of the water, with only about 1% of the 200 people who attended town hall meetings in late January about the matter saying they were drinking it, he said.
Gupta, who has a masters degree in public health, acknowledged that his findings were "non-scientific" and that he did not know what the baseline incidence would be of patients appearing at an ER with such symptoms, but said the anecdotes point to the need for further studies.
"Those two peaks are undeniable," he said. "Perhaps there is something going on here."
Gupta said the water in his own house continues to smell of licorice, and that he avoids drinking tap water, though he would not be opposed to doing so. "The question becomes, is a pregnant mom going to drink it? Should developing brains of children be drinking it?"
The CDC has expressed similar concerns. "Due to limited availability of data, and out of an abundance of caution, pregnant women may wish to consider an alternative drinking water source until the chemical is at non-detectable levels in the water distribution system," it said in a paper dated February 5. "For mothers with babies, there is no research that suggests consuming water with these low levels of MCHM poses any health risk to their baby. However, if you have any concerns, please consult your doctor."
But the West Virginia Poison Center said in a posting on February 10 that some symptoms, such as nausea and headaches, may not indicate that the chemicals were harmful.
"These symptoms are not due to toxic effects but are a body's physical and real response to unusual smells/tastes," it said, adding that the poison center received calls from more than 1,900 patients reporting chemical exposures related to the drinking water in the days after the spill was reported. "Most reported symptoms included mild rashes and reddened skin from dermal exposure, or GI distress (nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea) from ingesting contaminated water. The symptoms tended to be mild and self-limiting."
It urged that anyone with continuing symptoms be evaluated for other medical conditions, and noted that viral gastroenteritis, influenza, the common cold and other infections are all common at this time of year.
A spokeswoman for West Virginia American Water Co. said the company was continuing to flush the system to get rid of pockets of licorice smell that remain. "For us, it's not over until we resolve the odor issue," said Maureen Duffy.
Dr. Tanja Popovic, the director of the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health, told reporters on February 5 that repeated testing had shown the water to be acceptable for all uses.
"What I can say is that with all the scientific evidence that we have, with everything that numerous people have worked on so far, I can say that you can use your water however you like," Popovic said. "You can drink it, you can bathe in it, you can use it how you like."
Tomblin said then that tests had shown levels of less than 10 parts per billion or too low to detect, and that he and his staff had been drinking the water "for the last couple of weeks." But when asked whether he could declare it "100% safe," he said, "No."
"The only thing that we can rely upon is what the experts tell us, and, you know, for all the tests done that's who we've got to depend upon," Tomblin said.
A federal grand jury is probing the spill at Freedom Industries, sources familiar with the grand jury's activities have told CNN.
source : http://edition.cnn.com/ By Elizabeth Cohen and Tom Watkins, CNN, February 20, 2014 -- Updated 1613 GMT (0013 HKT)
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