CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The State of West
Virginia continues to support first responders and emergency management
officials in Fayette and Kanawha counties following Monday’s derailment of a
CSX train hauling crude oil near Mount Carbon in Fayette County, W.Va.
That response includes the providing of
potable water for customers of the Montgomery water treatment plant, which shut
its intake as a precaution following reports that some of the crude oil had
leaked into a creek that flows into the Kanawha River. That facility draws
water from the Kanawha River a few miles downstream of the accident.
Assisted by the West Virginia Department
of Transportation, West Virginia American Water is providing a pair of 8,000
gallon tankers to supply Montgomery General Hospital and a neighboring
long-term care facility to ensure their boilers can continue to operate.
The Montgomery treatment plant still had
water in its reserves as of 10 p.m. EST. The West Virginia Department of Health
and Human Resources continues to work with the local water supply facilities to
ensure the protection of public health.
Elements of the West Virginia National
Guard’s 35th Civil Support Team have begun drawing samples, to test
for the spilled crude oil. While initial reports indicated that one or more
tanker cars had ended up in the water following the derailment, that does not
appear to be the case.
The West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection has personnel at the derailment site to assist in
gauging the potential threat to area water. The goal is to ensure the
Montgomery facility can resume operations as soon as conditions allow.
The intake at the Cedar Grove water
treatment plant is open. That facility, further downriver from the accident, continues
to monitor the water approaching its intake for any signs of crude oil from the
derailment.
CSX and the American Red Cross are
assisting residents displaced by the derailment and subsequent fire, which has
also damaged area power lines. While local responders earlier estimated that as
many as 1,000 area residents might be affected, only 85 were in local shelters
late Monday evening.
Shelters have been set up at: Valley High
School, 55 Greyhound Lane, Smithers; and Armstrong Creek Fire Department, 3319
Armstrong Creek Road, Powellton.
Both the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency are assisting in the derailment response. The
West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, like the
National Guard part of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, is
helping to coordinate the overall response and field local requests for resources
and assistance.
CSX plans to open a community outreach
center to address community needs as a result of the train derailment. That
center will be open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. until further notice at the Glass-in
Riverside Room at the Glen Ferris Inn on U.S. Route 60 in Glen Ferris.
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