Charleston WV MCHM Spill Highlights Need for Chemical Safety Reforms
On January 9, 2014, a significant spill of the industrial chemical 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol (MCHM) into the Elk River in Charleston, WV, affected around 300,000 people. The incident, declared a federal disaster by FEMA, raised concerns about the safety of the water supply and highlighted gaps in chemical safety regulations.
The spill, amounting to up to 7,500 gallons, occurred at a storage facility that was not regularly inspected due to its primary use for storage and MCHM's classification as a non-acute toxin. This lack of inspection, combined with inadequate data on MCHM's potential harm to humans, led to uncertainty about the water's safety in the days following the spill. Federal databases like TOXNET and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry were unable to provide helpful information due to the scarcity of underlying data on MCHM.
The incident has sparked calls for improved chemical safety regulations. The Chemical Safety Improvement Act of 2013, or S. 1009, aims to require systematic evaluations of grandfathered chemicals to enhance safety information availability. In West Virginia, chemical storage reporting is largely on paper, making data access and use challenging. Mandating e-filing for chemical plant reports, making data freely available online, and offering it for bulk download in machine-readable formats could improve government services and prevent future disasters. Regular inspections and up-to-date data could also help model equipment failure rates and map active sites of hazardous material storage for regional planning and environmental protection.
The MCHM spill in Charleston, WV, underscores the need for robust chemical safety regulations. While the EPA does not require safety testing for many existing chemicals, improved data access, regular inspections, and systematic evaluations of grandfathered chemicals could enhance public safety and prevent similar incidents in the future.
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