I have spent so much time, money effort and resources to try and combat the “No Water” advisory! We can not shower, cook, wash our hands, brush our teeth, go to work, water our animals, ect.! I have had the youngest member of out Turtle family meet its early demise, I am convinced it was the water pollution! I have 4 baby turtles only one was exposed to a large amout if the contaminated water for days/hours! I have never lost a pet turtle until now and I have over 20. I know I did not cause this and the State will be performing an autopsy to confirm my thoughts on how my baby turtle was “killed” “polluted” “Murdered”!!!!!! Freedom Industries needs to step up and take responsibility for their negligence! My family and I along with hundereds of thousands of others affected by the WVWaterCrisis! The owner of the company that caused this was on the news FINALLY. After 31 hours of not being able to find anybody to represent Freedom Industries! This is vicious malice. A terrible crime has been committed! Help WV and its people through this crisis that has no end in sight! We deserve answers! Why weren’t there spill containers underneath the tank the chemical spilled out of?! We along with many others will probably be forced to leave the area until the water is safe again!
Author: kristalynnbryson
Susan, Belle, Kanawha County
So far I am staying in a “worried” phase. Mainly because of the lack of hand washing. I had a horrible infection that anyone could get and it was passed to me right after I had surgery through poor hand washing. You HAVE TO USE soap and water after using the bathroom. Even if you use the antibacterial gel this type of infection is not immune to that. I worry about an epidemic due to lack of water. If you have not had a bad illness (which I hope you have not) you can not understand this. And when I see people going to places that they don’t really need to go just so they can “get out” really makes me cringe. I may lose job over being diligent and saying no I was not using the hand gel after using the bathroom but I am going to do whatever I can to stay healthy through this. God hasn’t brought me this far for failure.
Emily, Charleston, Kanawha County
It’s not just not being able to shower….. Although soon that will start to reach a fever pitch for hundreds of thousands of people.
Do you realize how much you use water? Put plastic bags over all your faucets and see how long it takes to start feeling discouraged.
And then there’s the funky cough syrup smell when we open the lid of our toilet. We don’t know how much is in the water or how dangerous it is. We don’t know when we can use our water again. We got five gallons for ourselves and five gallons for both sets of our parents today 90 miles away. But it might not be enough? Who knows! Everyone is trying to roll with it, and water stations are set up.
So it’s frustrating and it’s scary, and not only can we not use tap water for bathing, we can’t do dishes or laundry or cook. Well, unless you don’t mind doing dishes by hand with precious bottles of water.
Restaurants are closed. Schools were closed Friday. We have a lot of questions, a lot of inconveniences, and most people have really seemed to be handling it in pretty good spirits, all things considering.
And it’s a powerful reminder of how incredible it is to usually have access to such a wonderful thing as beautiful, odorless, potable water, because so many people in the world don’t have that luxury.
But right now we have greasy hair. We’re scared. We’re coping. Waiting. Trying to get out of town or just distract ourselves.
Right now, to fantasize about a hot shower or bath is just a comforting way to visualize the end of this bizarre, stressful, and confusing experience.
Kathleen, Dunbar, Kanawha County
I smelled something funny sweet on Wednesday and thought it was the heater core in car, but that wasn’t it. It all clicked Thursday in Charleston at about noon when I smelled it outside crossing the street. The smell was really strong too! I was happy it wasn’t my car but wow not at all thrilled when I heard a company had a leak of a chemical. It seems they initially tried to cover it up! I honestly don’t think they would’ve said anything about it had it not filled the air! I flush the toilet and that sweet smell emits in my home! I have headache and my eyes feel dry, burned, and tired. I don’t recommend running your water at all. Move into a friend or family’s home if you can. This is a total wake up call for food insurance and water hoarding!!!
Kaitlyn Wilson, Volleyball Player, Cross Lanes, Kanawha County
Today, Saturday, January 11, 2014 I had USA Track and Field practice. I have been out of water for nearly three days. Making it to practice was a huge struggle, but I took 30 extra minutes and got ready. Now at 2:00 pm I am heading to find somewhere to shower. This WV Water Crisis/Disaster is taking a huge toll on my town and state.
Jonathan Simpkins, Coal Miner, Kanawha County
Ever go to brush your teeth or just wash some fruit and realize you can’t? Ever use body spray and lotion to clean up with after work?
I don’t drink tap water myself. But I have a cat and dog to provide for. I change their water daily. This is an inconvenience now. But what if this goes on for months?
I’m extremely fortunate that my grandparents live 20 miles away in Scott Depot, WV. Their water hasn’t been contaminated. So I can go there to shower and get water if needed. But what about the elderly who don’t have someone looking out for them? If this goes on for awhile it will most definitely be a crisis.
I work in a coal mine. Please don’t blame this incident on the coal industry. It was a company who makes chemicals who messed up big time. Was the Gulf of Mexico oil spill the car industries fault?
No more eating out for awhile. Restaurants are closed. Bars are closed. Schools are closed. This is going to have a huge impact on local businesses. If my favorite restaurant Leonoros goes out of business because of this there will be hell to pay.
Janice Faber, Small Business Owner, Winfield, Putnam County
My husband & I own Winfield Quick Stop, a Sunoco gas station in Putnam County, WV. Thursday evening we were out eating dinner when one of our employees called to tell us there was a chemical spill that had affected the water and that customers had been telling her not to use the water. I immediately checked the news on my phone to confirm, but WOWK reported the chemical was non-toxic. So I thought it was no big deal. I called our employee back to let her know not to worry, but she then informed me that WV was in a state of emergency. Once I googled that search term, I found out it was true. We had to stop all sales related to our water supply at the store, including coffee, cappuccino, and soft drinks.
Our next concern was how to get water deliveries to serve the customers needs. We have good relations with our vendors so we started by contacting our Pepsi & Coke drivers to bring extra water in their deliveries. On Friday morning I called one of our wholesalers, Ashland Specialty in Kentucky, to get water deliveries. They weren’t able to make extra deliveries, so my husband Tim made 3 trips to Ashland, Kentucky (a one hour drive from Winfield) in our personal vehicle to get water for our customers. I believe we made a good decision to do this. Otherwise, many of the people in our community would have been left without water for hours. My immediate family is lucky in one way because our home is in Mason County, one of the unaffected areas. We told our employees they are welcome to come to our home for showers.
I still can’t understand how we could be in such a terrible situation with a chemical spill that was not reported for hours. The people of WV should have been alerted much sooner. We are still waiting for our President to acknowledge our neglected state in a press conference. If they could tie this to terrorism the national news media would be all over this. We need a solution. No one in the news is talking about how badly this disaster is going to hurt the area’s economy. We are at a stand still. Businesses, schools, and local government are all affected. One of our local friends owns a restaurant and anticipates losing $20,000 this weekend if the water isn’t usable. This is enough to shut a small business down.
West Virginia Water Crisis 