It's still not clear how much longer hundreds of thousands of people in West Virginia will have to wait for clean tap water.
Sunday is the third day residents and business owners had to find other sources of water following a major chemical spill in the Elk River in Charleston, contaminating nine counties. (Via WTTG)
On Thursday, nearly 300,000 people were instructed not to drink, bathe, cook or wash clothes with their tap water because of the spill. (Via CBS)
And authorities have yet to say when these residents will be able to use that water again.
“The EPA mandates that before the water the water service can be restored it has to reach a level of one part of this dangerous chemical per million parts of water.” (Via Fox News)
And Fox News reports that might not be for at least a few more days.
But the longer the water is deemed undrinkable, the longer small businesses are losing revenue.
“Many shops like restaurants, stores and hair salons were forced to shut their doors. Owners say each day of lost revenue puts them in jeopardy. ‘We're gonna have to turn a lot of people away because we can't make the food...we can't offer them anything.’” (Via WSAZ)
WSAZ does report, though, that lawmakers are working on an emergency fund to help those businesses with rent and utilities during this “water crisis.” No word yet on where exactly those funds will come from.
WCHS reports 73 people have shown up to local hospitals to report symptoms that could be related to the contamination. Only five of those were admitted for observation, but they were all released.
Water samples will continue to be tested until service is restored. West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomlin said Saturday numbers from those tests are trending in the right direction.
