More than two months after the chemical spill that contaminated the tap water of more than 300,000 West Virginians, Marin Cogan finds that many don’t trust state officials’ assurances that the water is safe to use again:
Every morning before he leaves for work, [Robert Thaw] takes a wineglass and fills it with tap water. He dips his nose into the glass. “I can smell it right now,” he says. “It’s definitely there.”
Of all the barriers keeping people from trusting the water again, the smell might be the strongest. The scent still lingers around the site of Freedom Industries as though the spill had happened yesterday. This month, a study by scientists examining the impact of the spill showed that humans can detect the odor at an estimated .15 parts per billion—meaning that long after officials said it was safe, residents were still smelling it in their water. Robert likes to say that “humans did not make it this far eating and drinking things that don’t smell right.” They trust their noses over the government.
In a lengthy feature, Evan Osnos explores what the spill means for the politics of the coal industry:
By harnessing the most powerful technologies of political influence—campaign finance, public relations, politicized research—West Virginia’s coal industry has recast an economic debate as a cultural debate: a yes-or-no question, all or nothing. Viewed in that light, a vote for the industry is a vote for yourself, your identity, your survival. The coal industry has created the illusion of vitality. … The arguments for making sacrifices to protect the coal industry will become more difficult to sustain. With the most accessible seams depleted, and West Virginia coal facing competition from inexpensive natural gas, the U.S. Department of Energy forecasts that by the end of the decade coal production in the region will have dropped by half. In anticipation, the West Virginia Center for Budget and Policy, a progressive think tank, has called for using natural-resources taxes to create a “future fund” that would promote diversification by investing in infrastructure, education, and job-training programs.
The Dish 