In early January 2014, a chemical leak on the Elk River that fouled the water supply for 300,000 West Virginians, state officials said they’re now focused on long-term remediation efforts at the leak site, a tank farm for Freedom Industries in Charleston. An estimated 7,500 gallons of a chemical mixture, a combination of crude MCHM and stripped PPH, leaked into the Elk River on Jan. 9 and traveled downstream to the water intake for the Kanawha Valley Water Treatment Plant. Many people described the smell of a licorice-like odor – from the 4-methylcyclohexane methanol – in the sink, in the shower, in the air, especially in neighborhoods close to the Elk River. President Obama promptly issued an emergency declaration in the hours after the spill, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency dispatched tanker trucks full of clean water.
Officials with West Virginia American Water (WVAW) issued a do-not-use water order that lasted for days in parts of nine West Virginia counties as teams made up of those with WVAW, the state Bureau of Public Health and the West Virginia National Guard tested tap water for MCHM levels. Imagine living for a week without tap water for drinking, cooking, bathing, even washing clothes. Imagine restaurants having to shut down, hotels putting sinks and showers off-limits, nursing homes trying to care for patients with only bottled water at their disposal.
To learn how we can assist you with your customer communications during a crisis situation – contact us today.
- BNA had teams available 24/7 for over a week responding to communications requests.
- Leveraged our network of reliable vendors who worked around the clock with us.
- Expedited the scripting, editing, recording and distribution of multiple customer auto calls.
To learn how we can assist you with your customer communications during a crisis situation – contact us today.
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