skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Massive Tanker Explosion Highlights Water, Oil and Chemical Issues

play audio
Play

Tuesday, February 17, 2015   

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The derailment and massive explosion of a crude oil tanker train highlights threats to drinking water, as well as concerns about shipping crude oil and chemicals, advocates say.

The train derailment in Fayette County on Monday forced American West Virginia Water to suspend tap water supplies to 2,000 residents of Montgomery, 28 miles upstream from Charleston.

Maya Nye, executive director of People Concerned About Chemical Safety, says a train on the same line - also carrying crude oil - derailed in Virginia last April. That accident caused a huge explosion that forced the evacuation of downtown Lynchburg.

"This is the second train derailment of crude oil shipment along this rail line in less than a year," says Nye. "There have been massive explosions. It just goes to show you how dangerous this stuff really is."

Officials say the derailment set 14 tankers on fire and spilled oil into the Kanawha River, set a house on fire and threatened local drinking water. No serious injuries have been reported as a result of the accident.

The derailment and spill come just as the state legislature is considering a bill to roll back oil and gas storage regulations passed after the Elk River chemical spill last year. Nye says many lawmakers want to gut those drinking water protections, but she notes another bill under consideration would add pollution protections on one section of the Kanawha River.

"There was a public hearing talking about removing an exemption from the Kanawha River to try to make it safe for a drinking water source for Charleston," says Nye. "Then this kind of thing happens."

It is unclear if the oil spill upstream will impact the Kanawha River in Charleston.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021