"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin on Monday told 300,000 state residents that they should make their own decisions about using water from West Virginia American Water's Elk River plant in the wake of this month's leak of the chemical Crude MCHM."
"'It's your decision,' the governor told reporters during a news conference at the Capitol. 'If you do not feel comfortable drinking or cooking with this water, then use bottled water.'
Tomblin emphasized that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the water is safe as long as it contains less than 1 part per million of the coal-cleaning chemical, which leaked into the Elk River from the Freedom Industries tank farm 1.5 miles upstream from the water intake."
Ken Ward Jr. reports for the Charleston Gazette January 20, 2014.
SEE ALSO:
"West Virginia Water Ban Lifted Even as Residents Getting Sick" (Aljazeera America)
"WV American Water Wants Confident Customers" (West Virginia MetroNews)
"Water Company: No Plans To Move Intake Upstream" (Charleston Gazette)
"Tomblin Won't Say Tap Water Is 'Absolutely' Safe" (Charleston Daily Mail)
"Many Remain Wary of West Virginia Water as Smell Lingers" (Charleston Gazette/WTRF)
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