Judge Sides With Water Utility Over Workers Affected By Chemical Spill

A judge in South Carolina sided with a water utility in a lawsuit that was partially resolved this month.

“District Judge John T. Copenhaver has ruled that local workers who lost only their wages during the January 2014 chemical spill and the water crisis that followed won’t be able to continue their lawsuits against West Virginia American Water,” the West Virginia Record reported.

A chemical facility owned by Freedom Industries leaked the coal-processing chemical 4-methylcyclohexane methanol into the Elk River nearly three years ago, leaving 300,000 people unable to use their tap water for about a week.

One example of a worker who sought compensation in the suit is Maddie Fields, who “lived in St. Albans — where the local water system wasn’t affected by the Freedom spill — and worked at the Arby’s in Cross Lanes. While not physically harmed by the spill, Fields lost wages because the Arby’s was closed by the do not use” order issued after West Virginia American Water’s supply was contaminated,” The Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.

Still, the case remains in court. The decision was issued as part of a class-action lawsuit against the water utility. “The lawsuit alleges the water company was unprepared for the Freedom Industries spill that spurred a do-not-use order on tap water for 300,000 people for days,” the Associated Press reported.

Some experts argue that the spill was preventable. “At a press conference [in September], U.S. Chemical Safety Board Chairwoman Vanessa Allen Sutherland said the incident could have been avoided with inspections of the tanks at Freedom Industries in Charleston. Supervisory Investigator Johnnie Banks said West Virginia American Water was operating with the best information it had when it decided to keep its plant running. The board's report says the water company was initially given wrong information about the characteristics and amount of chemicals entering its treatment plant,” the AP reported.

The judge also ruled that “Kanawha Valley residents and businesses can continue to pursue economic claims against Eastman Chemical,” the manufacturer of the crude MCHM, the report said. A trial will begin this month, the Associated Press reported.

The chemical spill presented a public health threat. The spill left locals ill with nausea, rashes, vomiting, and abdominal pain, according to a review by West Virginia health officials.

For similar stories visit Water Online’s Source Water Contamination Solutions Center.