Friday, January 17th, 2014

Late last week, a devastating chemical spill from a Freedom Industries tank poisoned the drinking water for over 300,000 people in West Virginia. Across nine counties, residents lost access to safe drinking water and hundreds became immediately sick.

Now, a week later, some residents are still without water in the homes–and those that do have water flowing from their taps are finding that it’s still undrinkable. What’s more, workers are struggling from lost wages because businesses were forced to shut down during the crisis.

There must be a change in the way industry does business in West Virginia. The federal government must hold the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection accountable for it’s inability to protect safe drinking water.

It is no secret that Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, the WV legislature, and the WV Department of Environmental Protection have worked to undercut protections for people’s health and the environment in favor of the coal, gas and chemical industries.

This spill is the last straw.

Since West Virginia leadership won’t protect communities living downstream from unregulated industries, the federal government must. Sign the petition, and tell the Obama Administration that West Virginia leaders cannot be trusted to stand up for the health of West Virginia communities.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 17th, 2014 at 3:52 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.