In April of 2009, an explosion at Bayer CropScience in Institute, West Virginia left two employees dead, six sickened and many concerned. The explosion turned everyone’s attention to the policy’s, or lack there of, regarding chemical control. The United States Chemical Safety Board begged the state to create a new program to prevent accidents and releases; nothing came of it.
Fast forward to January 2014. With no state program requiring inspections of chemical storage facilities (as other states do), the site of the current spill had not been inspected since 2001. The company who owned the tank, Freedom, is facing costs of $1 to $10 million in assets,$1 to $10 million in liabilities, and 200 to 900 creditors. This, foreseeably, led the company to file for bankruptcy.
But was it necessarily the company’s fault? Yes, they were responsible for the infrastructure that broke and the drinking water contamination and yes, they failed to maintain their equipment. However, without government supervision what incentive do they have? With no one holding them responsible, why spend the extra costs on regulations that are not mandatory?
This widens the scope of responsibility, repositioning it on the West Virginia government. If other states have enforced regular inspections then West Virginia could as well. Mining is the largest industry in West Virginia and while there are many beneficial economic aspects to this industry, there are many hazards that need to be noted as well (i.e. chemical spills). By not taking the correct precautions and only working towards driving the West Virginian economy, the state is taking a huge risk in terms of safety. And that risk was realized in January.
This being said, could we have prevented this? I think the answer is yes, with correct infrastructure in place to monitor and regulate the sites. Private companies will not act independently to monitor their their sites without incentive, i.e. regulations. In going forward, we need more conversation between government agencies and companies to regulate and prevent future outcomes.
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