CSB Testimony from Transportation and Infrastructure Field Hearing on Charleston, WV Chemical Spill

Thank you to Chairman Shuster and Ranking Member Rahall for inviting me to participate in this important hearing today. I am Rafael Moure-Eraso, Chairperson of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board or CSB.

There are a few things that people here in West Virginia will never take for granted again. Common acts such as using tap water to prepare dinner for your family or drawing a bath for your child; everyday activities that quickly became impossible for approximately 300,000 West Virginians on January 9, 2014.

Unfortunately, weeks after this incident the community is still suffering, questions remain unanswered and people are still scared to use the water.

It is clear to me, as chairperson of an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents, that urgent steps are required to significantly improve the safety of facilities that handle hazardous chemicals. The chemical sector is vital to our economy, yet potentially dangerous to those who live near the thousands of facilities that process or store hazardous chemicals.

The CSB has 41 employees, half of whom are professional accident investigators with highly technical skills. Currently the CSB has a 4 member team in the field investigating this accident. Heading the team is Supervisory Investigator Johnnie Banks who is with me today.

First, I think it is important to discuss the history that the CSB has had investigating accidents in the Kanawha Valley. This is our third deployment to a major chemical incident in the valley. In 2008 two workers were fatally injured at the Bayer CropScience chemical plant in Institute when a waste tank containing the highly toxic pesticide methomyl violently exploded. Then in 2010, three incidents occurred in a thirty-three hour period at the DuPont Belle facility. There was a release of highly toxic phosgene, exposing a veteran operator and resulting in his death one day later.

Following the CSB’s investigation into the Bayer and DuPont incidents the board recommended that the county, working with the state, establish a hazardous chemical release prevention program to enhance safety and optimize emergency response. The CSB recommended that the health department establish an industrial safety authority, paid for using fees assessed on the companies processing or handling potentially dangerous chemicals. As an example, we cited the successful program in California’s Contra Costa County, which has an equally dense industrialchemical base. Although no regulatory program is 100% effective, the Contra Costa program has reported a dramatic decrease in serious incidents over the years without any adverse impact on employment or the business community.

State and local authorities tell us they considered the recommendation but due to a number of reasons, including funding, it has not been adopted … MORE