West Virginia Water Crisis

Amber Anderson, Mother, Charleston, Kanawha County

My family is one of the 300,000 people without water. I have a toddler and had already bathed, cooked, washed his clothes, and served him water to drink. To my understanding, they had already known about the chemical leak a day before. The air had smelled funny for two days and the water also. I am upset that I brushed my child’s teeth and let him have contact and ingest such a dangerous substance.

My grandmother is 70 years old and her whole house smells of licorice! My mother and her brother are taking care of her but are expericing headaches and sore throats! My family and I have dry skin as we speak and it’s not due to the weather. We want answers! The president of the company was rude and has provided the public with nothing! I am concerned for my child’s safety at best!

Gary Adkins, Hometown, Putnam County

Gary Adkins of Hometown, WV speaks about his last 24 hours dealing with the WV water crisis, his confusion over Freedom Industry and the DEP’s delayed response, and his hopes for the future.

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Sarah, Malden, Kanawha County

I live in the Malden area of Kanawha county, right outside of Charleston. What myself and my fellow West Virginians are experiencing right now is no joke. Being told that we can’t use our water for anything but flushing the toilets and putting out a fire is kind of scary.  Knowing that there is a plant with such hazardous materials just miles from our water treatment center is scary too. It’s is complete chaos here right now, everyone is scrambling to buy up as much water, disposable eating supplies, baby wipes, and hand sanitizer as they can, because we’ve been told that there is no time line as to when our lives will return to normal… It’s crazy!! The only thing that really bothers me is the fact that I can’t shower. I have to go to work every day this coming week, I work to support myself, and not going is not an option for me, and driving 40 plus mile a day to take a shower and do laundry in clean water isn’t very feasible, that’s more money in gas that we have to spend, it totally defeats me going to work. It’s a vicious cycle, I wish there was someway they could set up portable showers and laundry facilities or something, that would be so helpful to so many different people.  I love my state though, everyone has been extremely helpful with giving out water and bringing in clean water for people to fill their own containers with. In times of trouble we all pull together and help each other out and that’s one of my most favorite things about West Virginia… On the bright side of things, because I always try to find the bright side, I honestly feel blessed  because in all my 25 years of life this is the first time I have ever had to deal with something like this, in other countries unclean water is something people have to live with every single day. This really makes me realize how good we have it. Our water crisis here in WV will eventually end, life will go back to normal, and we will begin to take everything for granted like we did before we weren’t able to live life normally. Those other people in the other countries will still be dealing with their unclean water… This is just a small taste of the struggles they go through on a daily basis from the time they are born, till the time they die, so be thankful for that!

Jessica, Charleston, Kanawha County

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!

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.