Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Law
Time To Upgrade Drinking Water Protections, Noah M. Sachs
Time To Upgrade Drinking Water Protections, Noah M. Sachs
Law Faculty Publications
A year ago, residents of Charleston, W.Va., learned that their entire drinking water supply had become contaminated by MCHM, a toxic chemical used to wash coal. Ten thousand gallons of MCHM had spilled from a corroding storage tank by the Elk River, located a mile upstream of the city’s drinking water intake pipes. As a result of the chemical spill, 300,000 citizens lost their water for more than a week, and hundreds sought emergency care.
That accident alone should have been a wake-up call for Virginians about the need to protect our water supply from chemical spills. But a year …