2014 Elk River chemical spill
Counties (pictured) in West Virginia affected by the 2014 Elk River chemical spill. | |
| Date | January 9, 2014 |
|---|---|
| Location | Freedom Industries (Charleston facility) 1015 Barlow Drive Charleston, West Virginia United States |
| Coordinates | 38°22′7.98″N 81°36′23.82″W / 38.3688833°N 81.6066167°W |
| Cause | Release of up to 10,000 US gallons (38,000 litres; 8,300 imperial gallons) of crude 4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol into the Elk River |
| Participants | Freedom Industries West Virginia American Water |
| Outcome | Up to 300,000 residents within nine counties in the Charleston, West Virginia metropolitan area were without access to potable water |
| Non-fatal injuries | 169+ affected 14 hospitalized |
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.