THE SOUTHERN OFFICE OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTSPO Box 98129 | Atlanta, Georgia 30359 ph: 404/633-1866 | fx: 404/633-4896 | www.slcatlanta.orgSERVING THE SOUTHSOUTHERN LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCEOFTHE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS Copyright April 2014Anne Roberts Policy AnalystSouthern Legislative ConferenceApril 2014 Photo courtesy of Foo Conner via fickr Creative Commons LicenseIntroductionInSouthernLegislativeConference(SLC)member states, the coal and chemical industries are essential to stateeconomies.Becauseoftheimportanceofthese industries to the region, both in terms of economic de-velopment and employment opportunities, legislators often are faced with balancing business interests with the need for environmental protection and conservation.Recently, haz-ardousspillsintwoSLCstatesWestVirginiaandNorth Carolina have focused attention on this careful balance.ThisSLCRegionalResourceexaminesthespillsinWest VirginiaandNorthCarolinaandtheimmediateremedial action taken by each state.Understanding how these states reacted in the wake of water contamination can help oth-er SLC states respond quickly and effectively if faced with similar challenges.West VirginiaOnJanuary9,2014,anabovegroundstoragetankowned byFreedomIndustries,aspecialtychemicalproducerfor themining,steelandcementindustries,leakedanesti-mated10,000gallonsof4-Methlycyclohexanemethanol (MCHM) into West Virginias Elk River, just 1.5 miles up-streamfromtheprincipalwatertreatmentplantfornine counties in the Charlestown, West Virginia, metropolitan area.1The resulting contamination left more than 300,000 West Virginians without access to safe water.4-Methlycyclohexanemethanol(MCHM)isanorganic compound used in a process for cleaning coal.It is one of the64,000chemicalsalreadyinusewhentheToxicSub-stancesControlAct(TSCA)wasenactedin1976,and information about the toxicity of this chemical is extreme-lylimited.Forthisreason,itisnotrequiredtoundergo testing for human safety.The day of the spill, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency and activated the West Virginia Nation-al Guard.2The nine affected counties in West Virginia were instructednottodrink,cookwith,batheinorboiltheir water,3andDr.RahulGupta,healthofficerforKanawha andPutnamCounties,orderedallestablishmentsholding a health department permit, including restaurants, schools, nursinghomesandhospitals,toshutdownuntilthestate of emergency was lifted.4Later that day, President Barack Obamadeclaredafederalstateofemergency;5follow-ingthatdeclaration,theFederalEmergencyManagement Agency(FEMA)wasinstructedtoprovideon-the-ground assistance and federal funding for West Virginias response.Followingthesedeclarations,theWestVirginiaNational Guardbegandeliveringwatertothenineaffectedcoun-ties.6WestVirginiaresidentswereencouragedtobring their own containers to distribution sites to transport wa-ter home.To avoid price inflation, state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey issued a statement reminding businesses andconsumersaboutstatelawsbarringsellersfromin-creasing the price of water, i.e. price gouging, during a state of emergency.Citizens were urged to report any business orindividualthatdramaticallyincreasedthepriceofwa-ter, ice or other goods in the affected counties.7WASTE STORAGE AND WATER SAFETY:LESSONS FROM WEST VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINAA REGIONAL RESOURCE FROM THE SLC2 WASTE STORAGE AND WATER SAFETYWater TestingTheWestVirginiaDepartmentofEnvironmentalPro-tection(DEP),intheirroleasthestatesenvironmental protection and regulatory agency, was charged with over-seeingtheremediationatthesiteofthespill.Thefirst stepintheremediationprocessinvolvedmovingother chemicalsstored at theElk River site toanotherlocation. TheDepartmenthiredCivilandEnvironmentalConsul-tants, Inc., a Pittsburgh-based company specializing in site assessment and remediation, to assist with corrective mea-sures.8 As part of this process, the DEP began testing water sampleshourly.Initially,stateofficialswereunsurehow muchofthechemicalwasabletobesafelyconsumed.It waswidelyreportedthatnooneinauthoritywouldsay howlongitwouldbebeforethewatersupplywaspota-ble again,9 breeding a sense of heightened fear and anxiety asthesituationunfolded.Thisisattributabletothefact that MCHM is an unknown and little-tested chemical.In the days immediately following the spill, state officials did notprovideinformationabouthowoftenwaterwasbe-ing tested or how tests were conducted.10However, West VirginiassecretaryofstateultimatelycalledontheU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to post the results of water testing online.11ThirtyteamsfromtheWestVirginiaNationalGuard and West Virginia American Water Company collected samples from more than 400 fire hydrants in the affect-edareas,totalingmorethan1,000samples.12Totest thepresenceofMCHMinthewater,thesampleswere sent to five testing facilities;* five mobile testing sites al-sowereestablishedatWestVirginiaAmericanWater CompanystreatmentplantinCharleston. 13TheCDC determinedthatthechemicalwassafeinamountsbe-low 1 parts per million (ppm).Although little data was availableaboutthehealtheffectsofthechemical,local health and poison control officials used the CDCs 1 ppm standard.* Samples were transported to TestAmerica laboratories in Canton, Ohio,andPittsburgh,Pennsylvania.Accordingtothecompany website,TestAmericaisthelargestenvironmentaltestinglabora-tory in the country. Scientists have recommended a screening level of 1 ppm (parts per million) for drinking water.According to the CDC, a level of 1ppm orbelowisnotlikelytobeassociatedwithanyadversehealthef-fects.Additionally,thepublicmaycontinuetousetapwaterfor cookingandconsumefoodwhichmayhavebeenpreparedusing tapwater,aswithfoodcookedinrestaurantswithwateratorbe-low 1 ppm. Also, there is no known risk for bathing in water at or below 1 ppm.Two days after the spill, Governor Tomblin and other state officials announced that the ban would be lifted area by area.14 Residents were advised to use the Internet to access an inter-active web map to determine when it would be safe to use tap water again and were notified that a series of automated calls would go out to residents as the ban was lifted.West Virginia American Water Company released detailed procedures for residents to use when flushing their household water system, stressing that the procedure should not be instituted until the do not use order had been lifted in their area.15

OncewatertestsconfirmedthatlevelsofMCHMhad fallenbelowtheCDCstandard,WestVirginiaAmerican Water Company began pumping clean water through the 1,700miles of pipeline thatruns throughtheaffected sys-tem.16Work to lift the ban began in downtown Charleston andthreeotherpriorityzones,includingtheareasfour majorhospitals.17ByJanuary18,ninedaysafterthecon-taminationwasdiscovered,allresidentsinaffectedareas were allowed to use and drink tap water.Legislators ReactTheFreedomIndustriesspilloccurredonthesecondday ofWestVirginiaslegislativesession.Asaresultofthe timing,lawmakerswereabletobegincraftinglegislation immediatelytoaddressthecrisisandtopreventfuture spills.ThereactionoftheWestVirginiaLegislature,ac-cordingtoSenateMajorityLeaderJohnR.UngerII,was tothoroughlyexaminethesituationandlookatreason-able approaches ... to ensure the citizens and businesses that theirwaterresourcesareprotected.Withindaysofdis-coveringthespill,GovernorTomblinandstateSenate leaders both announced bills regulating aboveground stor-age tanks and outlining extra emergency preparedness and response guidelines. Ultimately, Senate Bill 373, introduced by Senator Unger, enjoyed unanimous support throughout thelegislativeprocessandwassignedintolawbyGover-nor Tomblin on April 1, 2014.ThefinalmeasureaddressedwhattheLegislatureidenti-fied as vulnerabilities exposed by the recent Freedom tank leaks,thebroadandlingeringimpactthatleakmayhave ontheaffectedwatersupplyandthecustomerswhorely upon it, and the response to that incident.For one, all pub-licwaterutilitieswhichdrawtheirwatersuppliesfrom surfacewatersmustperform,incollaborationwithlocal communities,acomprehensivereviewoftheirsystems ability to respond to spills and releases.Additionally, util-itiesarerequiredtoexamineandidentifyallsubstantial threats of contamination which potentially could reach the water utilitys supply intake within five hours. WASTE STORAGE AND WATER SAFETY 3ThelegislationalsoinstructstheWestVirginiaDepart-mentofEnvironmentalProtectiontoincreaseoversight of facilities with aboveground storage tanks through regis-tration and inspections, especially those located near public waterintakes,andorderstheWestVirginiaBureaufor Public Health to undertake a long-term study of the poten-tial health effects of the 2014 spill.18In addition, lawmakers requested an inventory of all chemical storage sites in West Virginia.19Callsweremadeforchemicalstoragefacilities to be moved away from bodies of water, particularly those thatareasourceofdrinkingwater.Beforethespill,DEP had no conclusive data on the number of aboveground stor-age tanks in the state. An inventory is still in its early stages, but DEP Secretary Randy Huffman told a state Senate com-mitteethereareatleast600facilitieswithapproximately 3,500 tanks.20 That estimate includes 100 facilities and at least 1,600 aboveground storage tanks that may sit near a public water source. The sponsor of SB373, Senator Unger noted, [The people] want to have the assurance that this will nev-er happen again, here or anywhere in West Virginia.GovernorTomblinpledgedtolookatemergencyreport-ing requirements and DEP regulations to ensure no future incidents would occur21 and ordered Freedom Industries to removetheclusterofabovegroundstoragetanksonthe banks of the Elk River.22The governors order was includ-ed in a consent order issued by DEP and signed by Freedom Industries.Afterthecompanymovedthechemicalfrom theleakingtanktoasecondstoragesite,DEPcitedthe company,issuingfiveviolations,andchargedthesecond site with failing to meet existing safety standards.Recognizing that West Virginia law did not require inspec-tions for chemical storage facilities,23lawmakers struggled to identify existing legislation that would hold Freedom Indus-tries accountable for the spill, noting that several loopholes exempted the company from an immediate notification re-quirement.Thesituationwasfurthercomplicatedbythe fact that the chemical is one of 80,000 substances not regulat-ed under the federal Toxic Substances Control Act.24Actions TakenBy declaring a state of emergency, Governor Tomblin was able to secure funding and assistance from FEMA for relief efforts.Unfortunately, FEMA reimbursement allocations werelessthanthetotalcostofremediation.Inaddition Members of the West Virginia National Guards Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High-Yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package draw water samples from across the Kanawha Valley to determine levels of contamination remaining in local water supply during Operation Elk River Spill. (Photo courtesy West Virginia National Guard Public Afairs)4 WASTE STORAGE AND WATER SAFETYto requesting more funding, Governor Tomblin personally engaged in assuring citizens of the drinkability of the water once decontamination had been completed. Responding to House Speaker Tim Miley and Minority Leader Tim Arm-steads letter to Tomblin asking for water testing in homes, thegovernorcreatedanin-hometestingprojecttoassess the effects of the spill.The governor also allocated $650,000 for a state Testing Assessment Project,25 an important step in improving consumer confidence in the drinking water, which allowed for in-home testing kits.TheWestVirginiaDivisionofHomelandSecurityand Emergency Management devoted a portion of its website to the water crisis.The website provided county emergency management contact information for all affected counties, advisories and health information from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services, health-related contacts, water sampling results, information on the chem-icals released and other important documents.North CarolinaOn the afternoon of Sunday, February 2, 2014, a Duke En-ergy security guard noticed the waste level of a retired coal ashstoragepondinEden,NorthCarolina,approximate-ly 130 miles north east of Charlotte near the Virginia state line,wasconspicuouslylow.26Laterthatday,specialists discovered that a 48-inch storm-water pipe beneath the un-lined 27-acre pond had collapsed.27The following morning, the North Carolina Department of Environment and Nat-ural Resources (DENR) was notified of the spill by a Duke Energyrepresentative.Apublicnoticewasissuedinthe afternoon.DukeEnergyofficialsestimatedthatbetween 50,00080,000tonsofcoalash,and27milliongallonsof water,werereleasedfromtheretiredplantintotheDan River.28DukeEnergylaterlowereditsestimateto39,000 tons of coal ash.29The Dan River also is a source of drink-ing water for Danville, Virginia. Coal AshElectricity production through the combustion of pulver-izedcoalleavesbehindinorganicmattersuchasflyash, bottomashandboilerslag,allcollectivelyreferredtoas coal ash.Coal ash contains an amalgamation of toxic el-ements such as selenium, mercury and lead.If ingested in large quantities, ash, a neurotoxin, can be poisonous.30 Once released through smoke stacks, most coal ash is cap-turedbycontroldevices.Approximately45percentof capturedcoalashisrecycledtomakeconcrete,pavement Precise amounts of these elements vary widely.andothermaterials,31whiletheremainingproductis storedinlandfills,quarriesandponds.Coalashstoredin pondsoftenisreferredtoaswetashbecauseitismixed with water.Nationwide, there are more than 2,000 coal ash storage facilities, including more than 400 landfills and 676 wet ash ponds.32 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified 53wetashpondsashighhazard,meaningiftheencas-ing becomes fractured, wet ash could lead to loss of human life.33Twenty-one of these high hazard ponds are located in SLC member states.For a list of High Hazard Potential Units,seeTable1.TheprevalenceofthesepondsinSLC member states necessitates a close look at the remedial ac-tions taken by North Carolina following the breach of an ashpondatDukeEnergysDanRiverfacility.Effective corrective action to lessen the impact of future spills is an important policy discussion for state lawmakers and state regulatory agencies. Water TestingThe day following the spills detection, the state began test-ingtheDanRiverforthepresenceof28toxicmetals,34 including: potassium, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, vanadium, silver, aluminum, beryllium, calcium, cobalt,iron,molybdenum,antimony,tin,thallium,tita-nium,lithium,magnesium,manganese,sodium,arsenic, selenium, mercury, barium and boron.The city water di-rectorofDanville,Virginia(sixmilesdownstreamofthe Duke Energy site), tested water exiting a treatment facility andreleasedapublicstatementannouncingthatthesam-ple met health standards.Although treated water from the Danville facility met Virginia health standards, subsequent testing of the Dan River by North Carolinas DENR found arsenic,copper,ironandaluminumintheriveratlevels above state standards for surface water quality.35OnFebruary12,theNorthCarolinaDepartmentof HealthandHumanServiceswarnedNorthCarolinians downstreamofthespilltoavoidcontactwithwaterand sedimentfromthestreamandtoavoideatinganyfishor shellfish from the Dan River.36Subsequently, DENR began collecting fish in the Dan River to determine if they were safe to eat.37These fish will be tested and the samples taken will be compared to fish sampled periodically throughout the year.On February 18, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-viceadvisedthatapileofcoalash75feetlongand5feet deep had been detected on the bottom of the Dan River.38 Typically, it takes several weeks for pollutants to accumulate in the tissue of fish, necessitating recurring testing.WASTE STORAGE AND WATER SAFETY 5The contamination of the Dan River has become a source of concern for farmers along the rivers banks.The North Carolina/Virginia border is dotted with cattle, dairy, soy-bean and wheat farms.39The Dan River provides drinking waterforlivestockandasourceofirrigationforcrops. Farmers have raised concerns that using the contaminated water for farming purposes could negatively impact their cattle and crops in the long term.40Legislators ReactFourdaysafterthespillwasidentified,NorthCarolina Governor Pat McCrory, along with DENRs John Skvalra andotherstateenvironmentalofficials,visitedDukeEn-ergys Dan River site togeta first-hand lookat thespill.41 After the visit, McCrory, a former Duke Energy executive, said this is a serious spill and we need to get it under con-trol as quickly as possibleOur top priorities are ensuring the health and safety of the public as well as the wildlife in the Dan River vicinity and the river itself, and the best way to do that is to get this controlled and cleaned up.42That sameday,NorthCarolinaSenatePresidentProTempore Phil Berger called for a legislative inquiry into the spill in his hometown of Eden.43

Actions TakenNorthCarolinalawrequiresDukeEnergy(andoth-ersimilarbusinesses),withstateapproval,todevelopa plan to contain and clean up water contaminated by the spill.44For its part, the states environmental agency cre-atedataskforcetoreviewallNorthCarolinacoalash pondsintheaftermathoftheDanRiverspill;thetask forcewilloperateindependentlyfromthestatesinves-tigationandincludesexpertsinwaterresources,dam safety and waste management. According to DENR, the taskforceischargedwithassessingcoalashbasinsand developing procedures to prevent future environmental disasters at these facilities.In announcing the task force, Secretary Skvarla said his department will use all avail-able resources, including the knowledge we have gained duringourenvironmentalassessmentandinvestigation into the spill of coal ash into the Dan River, to avoid fu-ture spills.45

Company Facility Name Unit Name Location/StateAlabama Power Co Ernest C. Gaston Electric Generating Plant Ash Pond Dam Wilsonville, ALAmerican Electric Power Big Sandy Fly Ash Louisa, KYAmerican Electric PowerJohn E. Amos Fly Ash Pond St. Albans, WVAmerican Electric PowerMitchell Fly Ash Pond Moundsville, WVCity of Columbia Columbia Ash Settling Pond Columbia, MOCity of San Antonio JK Spruce SRH/ FGD Pond San Antonio, TXCity of San Antonio JT Deely North Bottom Ash Pond San Antonio, TXCity of San Antonio JT Deely South Bottom Ash Pond San Antonio, TXCity of Sikeston Sikeston Power Station Bottom Ash Pond Sikeston, MODuke Energy CorpBelews Creek Steam StationActive Ash Pond Walnut Cove, NCDuke Energy CorpRiverbend Secondary Pond Mount Holly, NCGeorgia Power Plant BranchEMilledgeville, GAGeorgia Power Plant McDonough Ash Pond 4 Smyrna, GAKentucky Utilities CoE. W. Brown Auxiliary PondHarrodsburg, KYKentucky Utilities CoE. W. Brown Ash Pond Harrodsburg, KYKentucky Utilities Co Ghent Gypsum Stacking FacilityGhent, KYKentucky Utilities CoGhentAsh Pond Basin 1 Ghent, KYKentucky Utilities CoGhent Ash Pond Basin 2 Ghent, KYLouisville Gas & Electric CoCane Run Ash PondLouisville, KY Progress Energy Carolinas IncAsheville 1982 Pond Arden, NCProgress Energy Carolinas Inc Asheville 1964 Pond Arden, NCSource: The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.This information is current as of March 2014.Table 1 High Hazard Potential Units6 WASTE STORAGE AND WATER SAFETYIn addition to the task force, DENR asked a superior court judgetopostponeadecisiononasettlementbetweenthe state and Duke Energy over ash contamination at two oth-er sites.46This request drew criticism from environmental advocacygroups.However,suchadelayallowsthestate to reassess all North Carolina coal ash facilities.State offi-cials indicated that the Dan River spill may cause them to reevaluatethesettlementandtheprioritizationofthelo-cations involved.Despite criticism, this action provides an opportunity for state lawmakers to take action to improve thesafetyofstoragefacilitiesstatewide,whichcouldpre-vent future spills.Manylegislators,citizensandenvironmentalgroupsde-cried the delay in public notification of the spill.Likewise, GovernorMcCrorywascriticizedforwaitingfourdays beforevisitingthesiteandthesubsequentpublicstate-ment.OfficialsatDENRhaveclassifiedtheincidentand theDukeEnergyDanRiversiteasthethirdlargestcoal ash spill in the nations history, focusing attention between McCrorys administration and Duke Energy.Federal offi-cials have launched an investigation into the relationship.47 This increased scrutiny made firm, decisive action essential to maintaining public confidence.Ananalysisofnewscoverageofthespillandongoing clean-up efforts considered, in conjunction with actual re-medialstepstakenbyDENR,demonstratesthatstateand nationalmediawereundulycriticalofthestatesefforts tomitigatetheimpactoftheDanRivercontamination. Despite concerns by environmental groups and the feder-algovernmentoverthenatureofDENRsclosetieswith DukeEnergy,48theDepartmenttookseveralimportant steps to mollify the damage caused by the spill and to pro-vide stakeholders with critical information.Importantly, DENR coordinated with local, state, and federal agencies to regularly sample contaminated water, sediment and wild-lifeconcurrentlywithDukeEnergy;organizedaweekly agencystakeholdersmeetingtodiscusslong-termsam-plingplansaswellasnear-andlong-termremediation planswiththeEnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA), VirginiaDepartmentofEnvironmentalQuality,Virginia DepartmentofPublicHealth,U.S.FishandWildlife,U.S. ArmyCorpsofEngineers,thecityofDanville,Virginia, andDukeEnergy;andparticipatedincommunitymeet-ings organized by the EPA.Followingthespill,DENRtookpunitiveactionagainst Duke Energy.On February 25, Governor McCrory sent a letter to Duke Energy instructing the company to turn over details of what it planned to do with coal ash ponds at 14 locations across the state, including the one at the Dan Riverfacility.Threedayslater,DENRofficialsissued twonoticesofviolationtoDukeEnergyforinfractions attheDanRiverfacility:oneviolationforfailuretoob-tainaNationalPollutantDischargeEliminationSystem (NPDES)storm-waterpermitandanotherforviolations ofthefacilityscurrentNPDESwastewaterpermit.No-ticesofviolationforfiveadditionalfacilitiesalsowere issued by DENR.Notably,DENRlaunchedawebsitetoprovideinforma-tion on the spill featuring daily updates of all actions taken, allowinginterestedpartiestoreviewthemostcurrent responses to the disaster.In addition to featuring daily up-dates, the website provided a map of North Carolinas coal ash ponds, DENR media releases, enforcement actions and water quality test results.Creating this one-stop informa-tionalportalprovidedcitizens,policymakersandmedia alike with timely and relevant updates.Best PracticesTo ensure optimal preparedness, it is prudent for states to inventory waste storage facilities and develop specific and uniqueemergencyresponseplansforeachindividualsite. Whilethisrepresentsasignificantinvestmentofperson-nelandresourceallocation,theadvancedevelopmentof suchplansguaranteesastatesabilitytoquickly,knowl-edgeablyandmethodicallyrespondtoanenvironmental hazard.Furthermore,doingsomayreduceoreliminate harsh critiques of the state by media and other outside forc-es when environmental disasters occur.In times of crisis, citizens look to their government offi-cials,andespeciallytheirgovernors,tochampiontheir concerns. When state leaders react accordingly, they in-creasepublicconfidenceinremedialactions.Aswith naturaldisasters,itisincumbentuponpublicofficials toadvocateforthesafetyoftheirconstituencieswhen facedwithenvironmentalhazards.Findingabalance betweenprotectingcitizens,regulatoryoverreaction, environmentalconcernsandbusinessvitalitycanpose challenges for lawmakers.It is important that they take responsible actions to ensure that the same disaster does not occur twice.For example, when feasible, waste stor-age facilities located near waterways should be relocated toensurethatspills/leaksdonotcausewatercontami-nation;unlinedcoalashpondsshouldberemediatedor even closed and their contents relocated to more secure receptacles. WASTE STORAGE AND WATER SAFETY 7Endnotes1Associated Press, Congress: WV Spill Reveals Inadequate Regulations, The Washington Post, February 4, 2014, sec. Politics, http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/congress-wv-spill-reveals-inadequate-regulations/2014/02/04/859a54a4-8dc4-11e3-99e7-de22c4311986_story.html.2Charlotte Ferrell Smith, Ashley Craig, and Matt Murphy, Water Warning Now in 9 Counties; Emergency Supplies on Order, accessed March 17, 2014, http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/breakingnews/201401090067.3Ibid.4Rachel Molenda, Thousands of Residents Warned to Not Use Water, accessed March 17, 2014, http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201401090044.5Trip Gabriel, Thousands Without Water After Spill in West Virginia, The New York Times, January 10, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/11/us/west-virginia-chemical-spill.html.6Lenny Bernstein, Chemical Spill into W.Va. River Spurs Closures, Run on Bottled Water, The Washington Post, January 11, 2014, sec. National, http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/chemical-spill-into-wva-river-spurs-closures-run-on-bottled-water/2014/01/10/a6ec518a-7a0e-11e3-b1c5-739e63e9c9a7_story.html.7Ferrell Smith, Craig, and Murphy, Water Warning Now in 9 Counties; Emergency Supplies on Order.8Dave Boucher, State Still Relying on Chemical Company to Follow Orders, accessed March 18, 2014, http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/statehouse/201401220216.9Gabriel, Thousands Without Water After Spill in West Virginia.10Dave Boucher, Officials: More Chemical Leaked than Previously Thought, accessed March 17, 2014, http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/201401110074.11John Schwartz, A Second Chemical Was Part of West Virginia Chemical Spill, Company Reveals, The New York Times, January 22, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/us/a-second-chemical-was-part-of-west-virginia-chemical-spill-company-reveals.html.12Dave Boucher, Officials Say Water Testing Continues, but Slow Process, accessed March 18, 2014, http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/201401140130?page=2&build=cache.13Ibid.14Live Updates on WV Water Crisis: Water Ban Being Lifted Area by Area, accessed March 17, 2014, http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/201401110005.15George Hohmann, Here Is How WV Residents Can Flush Their Water Lines, accessed March 18, 2014, http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/Kanawha/201401130025.16Dave Boucher, Water Tests Improving; Still No Timetable given on Resuming Use, accessed March 17, 2014, http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/201401120050.17Coral Davenport and Ashley Southall, Critics Say Spill Highlights Lax West Virginia Regulations, The New York Times, January 12, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/13/us/critics-say-chemical-spill-highlights-lax-west-virginia-regulations.html.18Dave Boucher, Update: Legislature Passes Final Chemical Spill Bill, accessed March 18, 2014, http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/statehouse/201403080178.19Associated Press, State, Federal Officials: Change Laws after Spill, accessed March 18, 2014, http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/201401170032.Openandtransparentlinesofcommunicationareim-portantcomponentsofharmreduction,allowingall partiesaffectedameansofobtainingup-to-dateinfor-mationaboutdisasters.Intodayshyper-connected society,currentandsteadyinformationalupdatesare expected.Creatingacomprehensivewebsitedesigned toprovidesuchcommunicationcanbeavaluabletool for states to use during disasters.Other means of com-munication can include community meetings and daily media briefings.Finally,itisimportantforstateandfederalagenciesto workcollaborativelyduringtimesofcrisis.BothWest VirginiaandNorthCarolinademonstratedthatcollabor-ativeeffortsprovidethebestandmostpromptoutcomes. Workinginpartnershipwithmultipleagenciesincreas-es a states ability to quickly address problems and to draw fromvaluableexpertise.Thispracticecanlessenstrains placedonstateresourcesduringdisasterremediation,but only if forethought and planning among all entities are co-ordinated at the front end.THE SOUTHERN OFFICE OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTSPO Box 98129 | Atlanta, Georgia 30359 ph: 404/633-1866 | fx: 404/633-4896 | www.slcatlanta.orgSERVING THE SOUTH20Dave Boucher, CDC, EPA Officials to Return to Charleston, accessed March 18, 2014, http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/Kanawha/201402040170?page=2&build=cache.21Boucher, Officials Say Water Testing Continues, but Slow Process.22Michael Wines, Tests Said to Find Formaldehyde in West Virginia Tap Water, The New York Times, January 29, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/us/tests-said-to-find-formaldehyde-in-west-virginia-tap-water.html.23Davenport and Southall, Critics Say Spill Highlights Lax West Virginia Regulations.24Associated Press, Congress.25Dave Boucher, State to Test Water in Homes after Chemical Spill, accessed March 18, 2014, http://www.charlestondailymail.com/News/Kanawha/201402110077.26NC Officials Examine Notification Delay in Coal Ash Spill on Dan River | Coal Ash Issue | NewsObserver.com, accessed March 13, 2014, http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/25/3654338/state-officials-unravel-notification.html.27Bruce Henderson, Duke Energy Plant Reports Coal-Ash Spill | Business | NewsObserver.com, accessed February 14, 2014, http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/03/3588506/duke-energy-plant-reports-coal.html.28Ibid.29Anne Blythe, Feds Launch Criminal Probe of NC Agency after Coal Ash Spill, accessed February 14, 2014, http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/13/3619273/feds-launch-investigation-into.html.30WASHINGTON: Coal Ash Spill Could Push NC to Move More Aggressively on Environmental Threats | State Politics | NewsObserver.com, accessed February 25, 2014, http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/22/3643798/ash-spill-could-push-nc-to-move.html.31Brad Plumer, Coal Ash Is Spilling into North Carolinas River. Heres Why Its so Hard to Regulate, The Washington Post, accessed February 14, 2014, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/02/06/coal-ash-is-spilling-into-north-carolinas-river-heres-why-its-so-hard-to-regulate/.32Ibid.33OSWER US EPA, Coal Combustion Residues (CCR) - Surface Impoundments with High Hazard Potential Ratings, Collections & Lists, accessed March 13, 2014, http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/industrial/special/fossil/ccrs-fs/index.htm.34Michael Wines and Timothy Williams, Huge Leak of Coal Ash Slows at North Carolina Power Plant, The New York Times, February 6, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/07/us/huge-leak-of-coal-ash-slows-at-north-carolina-power-plant.html.35Martha Quillin, NC Tells Downstream Users Not to Touch Polluted Dan River Water or Eat the Fish, accessed February 14, 2014, http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/12/3616632/nc-tells-downstream-users-not.html.36Ibid.37The_News_and_Observer, DENR Sampling Fish from Dan River Spill | State Politics | NewsObserver.com, accessed February 25, 2014, http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/24/3651323/denr-sampling-fish-from-dan-river.html.38The Associated Press, North Carolina: Duke Energy Ordered to Stop Waste, The New York Times, February 18, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/19/us/north-carolina-duke-energy-ordered-to-stop-waste.html.39Jeff Tiberii, Concerns Linger For N.C.Residents After Coal Ash Spill, NPR.org, accessed April 9, 2014, http://www.npr.org/2014/04/02/298159535/concerns-linger-for-n-c-residents-2-months-after-coal-ash-spill.40Ibid.41Andrew Kenney and John Frank, McCrory Visits Dan River as Berger Calls for Legislative Inquiry | Under the Dome Blog | NewsObserver.com, accessed February 14, 2014, http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/06/3597172/mccrory-visits-dan-river-as-berger.html.42Ibid.43Bruce Henderson, Gov. McCrory Demands Duke Energy Fix Its Leaking Coal-Ash Pond | Technology | NewsObserver.com, accessed February 14, 2014, http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/06/3597574/mccrory-demands-duke-fix-leaking.html.44Bruce Henderson, NC to Create Coal Ash Task Force | Business | NewsObserver.com, accessed February 12, 2014, http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/11/3613167/state-to-create-coal-ash-task.html.45Ibid.46Ibid.47Federal Case Looking at Duke Energy and State Regulators Begins to Unfold | Local/State | NewsObserver.com, accessed February 25, 2014, http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/02/21/3644540/federal-case-looking-at-duke-energy.html.48Craig Jarvis and John Murawski, DENR Rejects Dukes Coal Ash Plan, amid Accusations of Leniency | State Politics | NewsObserver.com, accessed March 14, 2014, http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/03/13/3698726/emails-show-duke-denr-worked-closely.html.