HUFFINGTON POST / AP: …In the documents, the company also gives a possible explanation for what caused the spill: Freedom Industries says a water line burst during last week’s frigid temperatures, the ground beneath a storage tank froze, and some kind of object punctured a hole in its side, causing it to leak.
The water was tainted after a chemical used to clean coal leaked from a storage tank and then a containment area at a facility owned by Freedom Industries. The water ran into the Elk River, contaminating the state’s largest water system.
After the spill, residents in a nine-county area around the state capital of Charleston were told not to use the water for anything other than flushing toilets. Some businesses and schools were forced to close for several days. The water restrictions have since been lifted for most residents… (more)
