Last week Thursday I wrote a short article on a technology to help make fresh water transport easier for many in third world countries. In the blog I wrote "If you are fortunate enough… you probably don't think twice most of the time about your access to clean water". Little did I know how much of an issue it would become for about 300,000 West Virginians, who were without clean water from sometime Thursday through Tuesday.
The source of the water contamination was from a tank leak discovered at Freedom Industries, a chemical manufacturing company in Charleston, WV. The tank spilled 4-methyl-1-cyclohexanemethanol (MCHM), a cleaning agent used mainly for the coal industry. Its material safety data sheet (MSDS) does not have much information about impacts to human health, as there have been few studies or documents on its effects. Regardless, the contaminant was rightly treated as a poison, with the understanding that ingestion or skin contact could (or at high levels would) be hazardous to health.
The effects of the spill include around 15 hospitalizations, none critical, due to exposure to the chemical, the closing of schools and businesses, and difficulties for hospitals and other necessary facilities. The culprit chemical MCHM is a foaming agent used largely for removing impurities from coal in a process called froth flotation (more here). The purification process makes coal burn cleaner. And though coal is not directly related to the spill, I don't think the coal industry's image will go unscathed by this incident.
 Coal has through most of its history been considered a "dirty" industry. From the "black lung" health impacts of mining, to the dangers of the mines themselves, to the destruction caused by mountaintop mining, to the greenhouse gases and particulate matter released when burned... safe to say coal has had a lot going against it. Big press incidents like this spill will only further negatively impact the industry, which has been slowly shrinking in recent years due to environmental regulations, the closing of aged facilities, and negative public perception.
Despite these things, the industry is not all bad. Current practices, safety standards, and PPE (personal protective equipment) such as personal air quality detectors and respirators have continually been making coal production safer for workers. And clean coal technologies and practices (like our MCHM culprit that removes impurities) ensure coal emissions are in compliance with environmental and air quality standards. The shadows of the industry often cloud the benefits of coal, including the employment of over 174,000 blue collar workers in mines, power plants, and transportation. In addition, coal is still the nation's leading source for electrical energy production, at over a third (37% as of 2012).
It's often not easy to rationally discuss the good and the bad, the 'shoulds' and 'shouldn'ts' of industries like coal, particularly when incidents like this spill unnecessarily add fuel to the fires of those in opposition. The real lessons to be learned from this spill aren't geared toward coal at all. If anything, chemical manufacturers like Freedom need to be more diligent about replacing and maintaining old tanks, or else regulators need to be more diligent in enforcing proper maintenance.
Sources
Images via inhabitat.com and energy4me.org
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