CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Safe tap water gushed from faucets and shower heads in West Virginia on Monday, a welcome sight and sound for a small fraction of the 300,000 people who have not been able to use running water since a chemical spill five days ago.
It could still be days before everyone in the Charleston metropolitan area is cleared to use the water, though officials said the water in certain designated areas was safe to drink and wash with as long as people flushed out their systems. They cautioned that the water may still have a slight licorice-type odor to it, raising the anxieties of some who believed it was still contaminated.
“I’m not going to drink it. I’ll shower in it and do dishes in it. But I won’t drink it. I don’t think it’s (the chemical) all out,” said Angela Stone, who started the 30-minute or so process of flushing her system out soon after the ban was lifted.
By Monday evening, officials had given the green light to about 15 percent of West Virginia American Water’s customers, and company spokeswoman Laura Jordan said as much as 25 percent of its customer base could have water by the end of the day.
The water crisis shuttered schools, restaurants and day-care centers and truckloads of water had to be brought in from out of state.
People were told to use the water only to flush their toilets.
“Finally,” said Stone’s husband, James Parker. “I can finally take a shower, do dishes and cook some regular meals.”
The chemical, even in its most concentrated form, isn’t deadly. However, people were told they shouldn’t even wash their clothes in affected water, as the compound can cause symptoms ranging from skin irritation and rashes to vomiting and diarrhea.
Company president Gary Southern held a brief news conference Friday night, but otherwise company officials have declined to comment.
“We have mitigated the risk, we believe, in terms of further material leaving this facility,” he said then.
Associated Press writers Pam Ramsey; Brendan Farrington; Mitch Weiss; and Dylan Lovan in Charleston, W.Va., contributed to this report.
