Jonathan Mattise and Ben Nuckols
Jan 14, 2014
(Photo courtesy news.yahoo.com)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Downtown businesses and restaurants reopened Tuesday following last week’s chemical spill, but many people waited yet another day for officials to tell them their tap water was safe.
So far, about 39 percent of West Virginia American Water’s customers have been allowed to use their water again after a chemical spilled into the Elk River on Thursday, state officials said.
More than 200 restaurants have reopened where the ban has been lifted, said Amy Shuler Goodwin, a spokeswoman for Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, and all hospitals but one had running water by Tuesday, Tomblin said. The exception was Boone Memorial Hospital in Madison, the governor said.
There were still some areas on the edges of the water system with chemical levels exceeding the acceptable amount, said West Virginia National Guard Adjutant Gen. James A. Hoyer.
Schools in all four counties in the affected areas were to remain closed Wednesday, Tomblin said. He did not provide a timeline for school to resume.
The emergency closed schools, restaurants and businesses because they, along with about 300,000 residents, were told not to drink, shower or even wash clothes with the contaminated water.
Matthew Davis said his neighborhood was still waiting for the ban to be lifted. After rinsing off at a nearby creek last week, he finally enjoyed a hot shower Tuesday at his fiancee’s house 30 minutes away.