What Americans Learned This Year From Being Unable To Drink Their Water

First published on ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, which was recently named one of Time magazine's Top 25 blogs of 2010. A man helps unload bottled water after 10,000 gallons of crude MCHM contaminated the water. CREDIT: Foo Conner/@iwasaround On January 9, more than 300,000 West Virginia residents were shocked to learn that seemingly overnight their water was declared undrinkable, unusable even, save for flushing the toilet. In the ensuing weeks and months they would discover that a chemical mixture used to clean coal, crude MCHM, had leaked from a neglected storage tank on the banks of the Elk River, just upstream from a major water intake facility. Despite its proximity to the drinking water supply, very little is known about crude MCHM and its potential impact on humans and the environment.



Read more about What Americans Learned This Year From Being Unable To Drink Their Water