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2014 Elk River chemical spill
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, inCharleston 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.[1]
4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol[edit]
Chemical structure of4-methylcyclohexanemethanol.
4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol (MCHM), or more appropriately 4-methylcyclohexylmethanol, is an organic compound with the formula CH3C6H10CH2OH. Classified as an alcohol, it exists as two isomers with similar properties. MCHM is a colorless oil with an[12] odor of licorice.[13]
The amount of reliable information of this chemical is still unknown. Further data from Eastman's internal studies was released after the Elk River, West Virginia (2014) spill, including the studies upon which the LD-50 estimate was based and one 28-day study of oral toxicity of pure MCHM which concluded that 400 mg/kg doses were associated with erythropoietic, liver, and kidney effects, though these were not considered more than "minor toxicity" and the "no observed effect" level was considered to be 100 mg/kg/day.[43]
Crude MCHM is a chemical foaming agent utilized in the processing of coal at coal preparation plants to remove impurities that contribute to pollution during combustion.[7][14][15][16] The chemical washes coal in a process known as "froth flotation," which involves the separation of sand-size particles of coal from the surrounding rock within a tank of water or other solution.[16] MCHM is utilized in about 20 to 25 percent of coal preparation plants in West Virginia.[16]
MCHM is not used in the majority of West Virginia's coal preparation plants, because it is only used to produce coal for metallurgical purposes, a type of coal known as "coking coal" and most West Virginia plants process coal that is to be used for the generation of electricity.[16]
Diesel fuel was originally used for the froth flotation process, but it was replaced by MCHM because of air emissions regulations.[16]
Glycol ethers are a group of solvents based on alkyl ethers of ethylene glycol commonly used in paints. These solvents typically have a higher boiling point, together with the favorable solvent properties of lower-molecular weight ethers and alcohols.46