Almost 3 Yrs Later, WV Public Service Commission Gets Around To Investigating MCHM Spill
As lawyers start the process of turning a tentative lawsuit settlement into a full-fledged class-action agreement, the attention of consumer groups and local businesses that want a more public airing of West Virginia American Water Co.’s role in the January 2014 regional water crisis now turns to a long-delayed investigation by the state Public Service Commission.
Testimony before the PSC could focus on issues that also were central to the federal court case, such as whether West Virginia American wrongly did not produce enough treated water so that it could close its intake and let the chemical spill pass and why the water company decades ago abandoned a second intake that would have been located upstream from the Freedom Industries spill site.
“The PSC investigation is more important than ever in terms of understanding what went wrong on January 9th [2014], and what steps still need to be taken to ensure a safe water system,” said Cathy Kunkel, a leader of Advocates for a Safe Water System, a group that formed after the Freedom spill, has intervened in the PSC investigation and is pushing for a public takeover of the local drinking water system.
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It remains unclear when the PSC investigation — which has involved several rounds of prepared testimony submitted in writing — will move to the phase where commissioners hold a public evidentiary hearing, where lawyers for consumer and business groups will have the chance to cross-examine water company witnesses. Last month, the PSC again postponed its evidentiary hearing, citing a request from West Virginia American Water lawyers who said the company and its attorneys simply couldn’t manage both the federal court trial and the commission hearing at the same time. The trial had been set to start on Oct. 25 and last six weeks or more, while the PSC’s last scheduled start date for its multi-day hearing was Nov. 15.
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http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/20161101/psc-to-investigate-water-companys-response-to-mchm-spill
