Radioactive plume is leaking from the Barnell Nuclear site & WVA water crisis

[Christian40]

COLUMBIA, SC (INTELLIHUB) — This week the east coast has been hit with a number of chemical and radioactive disasters that contaminated local communities.  A chemical spill in West Virginia this week left hundreds of thousands of people without water, and thousands sick.  Now it has been reported that a radioactive plume is leaking from a site in South Carolina.

"The Barnell Nuclear site occupies about 235 acres of land originally owned by Chem-Nuclear Systems (CNS). Disposal of waste began at the facility in 1971 and Chem-Nuclear Systems (CNS), currently owned by Energy Solutions, has been the sole operator since that time.

According to WLTX, the plume is moving off the Barnwell Nuclear site southwest toward the Savannah River Site.  Traces of Tritium have also been found in Mary’s Branch Creek.

“DHEC has documented there is a plume leaking from the site but the problem with Tritium is it’s hard to remediate, it’s hard to clean it up,” said Tom Clements, Southeast Nuclear Campaign Coordinator for Friends of the Earth.  “So we have to look at ways to stop it from leaking from the dump.”

The site receives toxic waste from South Carolina, New Jersey, and Connecticut and have enough land to stay open through 2038.

“The problem is in their annual updates, there’s no plan to address the leaks,” Clements said.  “We need to make sure the facility is capped off in a better way and better managed so there is less nuclear material leaking.”

“It combines with oxygen to form basically radioactive water.  So, it gets everywhere in the environment,” Clements said.  “The level was far above the drinking water standard but fortunately it doesn’t look like anyone is drinking the water."

http://intellihub.com/2014/01/12/nuclear-plant-leaks-radioactive-plume-south-carolina/

[Mark]

Crisis In West Virginia: Wal-Mart Calls In Police To Guard Bottled Water Delivery

The Federal Emergency Management Authority has confirmed that it will deliver more than 1 million liters (264,172 gallons) of clean water to residents of the nine counties in West Virginia after a chemical used by the coal industry spilled into the Elk River on Thursday.
 
Approximately 300,000 people in West Virginia were told not to drink or use their water after approximately 5,000 gallons of 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol (MCHM) — a chemical used to wash coal of impurities — spilled from a tank owned by Freedom Industries. West Virginia American Water Company president Jeff McIntyre warned consumers not to use tap water for baby formula, brushing teeth, or showering. “Toilet flushing only,” he said.
 
The reports sent people rushing to stock up on bottled water, stripping store shelves around the area, including local Wal-Marts. Tension over the availability of clean water in the area seemed to be growing. At around 3:00pm, the Kanawha County police scanner lit up with reports of a shipment of water that was about to come in to a nearby Wal-Mart, asking for police presence while employees could restock.
 
“It was chaos, that’s what it was,” convenience store cashier Danny Cardwell told FoxNews.com.
 
Local officials have described MCHM as smelling like licorice and looking like “cooking oil floating on top of the water.” The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources said symptoms of MCHM exposure include “severe burning in throat, severe eye irritation, non-stop vomiting, trouble breathing or severe skin irritation such as skin blistering.”
 
Though the spill occurred Thursday morning, West Virginia American Water didn’t provide its customers with a warning until evening and, as Al Jazeera reported, several were angered by the lack of information, particularly regarding what should be done if they had already used or ingested the water.
 
At a press conference Friday afternoon, West Virginia National Guard Adjutant General James Hoyer said the amount of MCHM in the water was becoming more diluted.
 
“There has been a reduction in the concentration in the water from two parts per million to 1.7 parts per million,” Hoyer said. “The CDC says one part per million would be an acceptable level. Point-one would be the level there they would not notice any smell or taste difference.”

http://countdowntozerotime.com/2014/01/13/crisis-in-west-virginia-wal-mart-calls-in-police-to-guard-bottled-water-delivery/

[Mark]

another perfect example as to why you should have some survival skills and supplies on hand...

[Mark]

Frustration grows days after W.Va. chemical spill

Frustration is mounting for many of the 300,000 West Virginia residents who've gone three days without clean tap water.

Chris Laws found bottled water on Saturday for his two elderly next-door neighbors.

"They can't get out," said Laws, 42, of Marmet, a coal miner. "I'm keeping an eye on them. You got to watch out for your neighbors. They're the ones who are going to watch out for you."

He said he was angry at the company at the center of the leak, Freedom Industries.

"A lot of people are facing bad situations because of this," he said. "They're struggling. What I don't understand is how did this happen?"

The emergency began Thursday following complaints to West Virginia American Water about a licorice-type odor in the tap water. The source: the chemical 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, which had leaked out of a 40,000-gallon tank at a Freedom Industries facility along the Elk River.

State officials said Saturday they believe about 7,500 gallons leaked. Some of the chemical was contained before flowing into the river; it's not clear exactly how much entered the water supply.

It could take days for clean tap water to flow again. First, water sample test results must consistently show that the chemical's presence in the public water system is at or below 1 parts per million, the level recommended by federal agencies, West Virginia American Water President Jeff McIntyre said Saturday at a news conference.

Most visitors have cleared out of Charleston while locals are either staying home or driving out of the area to find a hot meal or a shower elsewhere. Orders not to use tap water for much other than flushing toilets mean that the spill is an emergency not just for the environment but for local businesses.

"I haven't been able to cook anything at home and was hoping they were open," Bill Rogers, 52, said outside a closed Tudor's Biscuit World in Marmet, just east of Charleston. "It seems like every place is closed. It's frustrating. Really frustrating."

There's no question businesses have been hurt - particularly restaurants and hotels, said Matt Ballard, president of the Charleston Area Alliance, the state's largest regional chamber of commerce.

"I don't know that it can be quantified at this point because we don't know how long it will last," Ballard said. "I'm hoping a solution by early next week so business can get back to normal."

The Alliance is urging business owners to check their insurance policies to see if they can make claims over lost sales. It plans to hold workshops to assist businesses with those issues, Ballard said.

All told, 32 people have sought treatment at hospitals for symptoms such as nausea. Of those, four were admitted to the Charleston Area Medical Center but their conditions weren't immediately available.

Federal authorities, including the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, opened an investigation into Thursday's spill.

West Virginia National guard officials said they need a 24-hour period in which samples at the water treatment facility are below 1 part per million. Many samples are meeting the mark, but some are still hitting slightly above 1 part per million.

After they achieve that goal, West Virginia American Water Company can begin sampling across the nine-county region and flushing the system. That process would take days, said company president Jeff McIntyre.

According to Department of Environmental Protection officials, Freedom Industries is exempt from DEP inspections and permitting since it stores chemicals, and doesn't produce them.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said he will work with his environmental agency chief on tightening regulation of chemical storage facilities in the current legislative session.

In downtown, the store Taylor Books usually fills the 40 seats in its cafe. But the cafe was shut down by the state Department of Health on Friday because it said employees had no way to safely wash their hands before serving customers. On Saturday only three people sat in the bookstore using the wireless Internet. Manager Dan Carlisle said he canceled a musician scheduled to play that night and the store was going to close five hours early.

"It's pretty annoying," Carlisle said about Freedom Industries' response to the spill. "I feel like you should just be honest with people immediately."

At Charleston's Yeager Airport, seven inbound and outbound flights were canceled. The reason for the cancellations was an agreement between the airlines and unions for flight crews and pilots that hotels meet a certain threshold of service, and the lack of water violates the agreement, said airport spokesman Brian Belcher.

State officials were working over the weekend on alternative sources of water that may allow restaurants to reopen. Several businesses that had arranged other sources of water were inspected Saturday.

"We will work around the clock, 24-7, and try to open ... as many businesses as possible in the next couple of days," said Dr. Rahul Gupta, health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston and Putnam County boards of health.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20140112/DAB9ATJ01.html

[Kilika]

Video from WLTX...

http://www.wltx.com/news/article/260884/1/DHEC-Confirms-Nuclear-Plume-Moving-Off-Barnwell-Site

DHEC Confirms Nuclear Plume Moving Off Barnwell Site

8:22 PM, Jan 9, 2014

Columbia, SC (WLTX) -The Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) confirmed to the Governor's Nuclear Advisory Council a plume of radioactive Tritium is in the groundwater.

"DHEC has documented there is a plume leaking from the site but the problem with Tritium is it's hard to remediate, it's hard to clean it up," said Tom Clements, Southeast Nuclear Campaign Coordinator for Friends of the Earth.  "So we have to look at ways to stop it from leaking from the dump."

Clements says DHEC's annual updates monitor the plume, but fail to provide a long term solution on how to keep ground water safe.

The plume is moving off the Barnwell Nuclear site southwest toward the Savannah River Site.  Traces of Tritium have also been found in Mary's Branch Creek.

"About 95 percent of the 235 acres are under institutional care," said site director Michael Benjamin.

The site receives toxic waste from South Carolina, New Jersey, and Connecticut and have enough land to stay open through 2038.

"The problem is in their annual updates, there's no plan to address the leaks," Clements said.  "We need to make sure the facility is capped off in a better way and better managed so there is less nuclear material leaking."

DHEC's Susan Jenkins told the advisory council that the "site is in compliance" and says the latest measurements show the amount of Tritium below a federal compliance level.

However, Clements points out that recorded level is much higher than federal drinking water standards.

"It combines with oxygen to form basically radioactive water.  So, it gets everywhere in the environment," Clements said.  "The level was far above the drinking water standard but fortunately it doesn't look like anyone is drinking the water."