Could West Virginia-like water contamination happen in Alabama? Unfortunately, the answer is yes

Posted on AL.com on February 03, 2014 at 9:14 AM, updated February 03, 2014 at 9:16 AM
 

By now you have heard that Freedom Industries, the West Virginia company whose 10,000-gallon chemical leak poisoned much of that state’s drinking water has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Three hundred thousand people were without water for several days, businesses were forced to shut down during the outage, and now the owners of Freedom Industries have petitioned the courts to allow them to walk away from the damage. Could that happen in Alabama? This is actually a question with two parts but unfortunately, the answer to each part is yes.

The first issue is one of regulation. U.S. House Speaker John Boehner stated that this was a failure to enforce existing regulations, not a lack of regulation. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Federal regulations cover oil storage tanks, not chemical tanks. There are recommendations for proper tank maintenance and spill containment in the federal rules, but they do not have the weight of law.
The Freedom facility is reported to have had spill containment walls, one of the federally recommended practices. Unfortunately, the walls were also reported to have been cracked. The State of West Virginia has no regulations requiring the inspection of chemical tanks, even those containing toxic substances near water supplies. The state prides itself on being pro-business, with few regulations to hinder business, just like Alabama. After all, all business people are trustworthy; all businesspeople follow good maintenance practices and would never delay fixing a problem to make more money, right?


This is the point in this column where I defend most businesspeople. I work in the corporate sector. I believe that most businesspeople do their best. Most want to do the right thing. But it only takes one bad tank to poison a river.

Step back a moment in time and imagine that West Virginia did have effective regulations in place. Yes it would have cost Freedom Industries some money, but this would have been money well spent, an insurance policy. It would have saved not only the people and other businesses of West Virginia time and money, but it would have kept Freedom Industries out of bankruptcy. 

Most (businesspeople) want to do the right thing. But it only takes one bad tank to poison a river.

Bankruptcy is a complex process under federal rules, but Freedom Industries will more than likely be able to leave the people of West Virginia on the hook for the damage it caused. You need only to look at Perry Uniontown Ventures LLC. (Perry County, Alabama – damage lawsuits dropped due to bankruptcy) or Interstate Lead (Leeds, Alabama –superfund site, estimated cost $60 million) to see that bankruptcy often allows companies to walk away from the environmental damages that they cause, leaving taxpayers on the hook.

Alabama has more miles of navigable rivers than any other state; 10 percent of the fresh water in the United States runs through Alabama. Alabama, with its water, minerals, forests and beaches is a natural wonder. Are we being proper stewards of this god given bounty? Do we have the rules in place to require tank inspections, particularly those near our precious water? No.
Unfortunately we Alabamians have a reflexive response to government that doesn’t serve us well. We chafe at the imposition of rules and regulations, even those that benefit and protect us. Our politicians lack substance; they run with a promise to turn back the clock to a simpler time that never existed. Their currency is the empty promise and they attack anyone who speaks up for change.
For proof you need to look no further than the name calling that accompanied calls for the Public Service Commission to conduct formal rate hearings. Anyone promoting hearings was labeled an environmental extremist. It didn’t matter that environmental issues were not the topic to be discussed. It didn’t matter that transparency in government is a virtue and that the Public Service Commission was merely being asked to do its job in the open. It didn’t matter that keeping utility rates low (while guaranteeing utility companies a fair rate of return) is good for the people and for Alabama’s business community. The PSC chairperson ran on the promise of jobs, jobs, jobs but attacked others when she was asked to do hers.

Imagine then the firestorm over someone proposing common sense rules to regulate chemical storage facilities. Well, let the name-calling begin. It is time to be better stewards of Alabama’s natural resources. It is time to protect the businesses that would be shut down by other’s recklessness. It is time to protect poorly run businesses from themselves. West Virginia showed us why it is needed.

Let’s not wait for our own disaster.