Don't drink the water whatever they say!: Senator warns that tap water supplying 300,000 West Virginia residents is still not safe despite inspectors' reassurances one month after huge chemical spill

Democratic West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller refuses to drink the water and urges his constituents to also avoid it

The tell-tale licorice smell indicative of contamination is still present

Health officials have declared the water potable for all but pregnant women

Rockefeller says state politicians are in bed with industry and blames the cozy relationships for allowing the spill to occur

A prominent West Virginia politician is urging citizens to not drink the water despite officials saying it is ‘appropriate’ for use.

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D) told a Charleston television station that state officials are in bed with the energy industry and that people should further question both the potability of their water and how those relationships affect authorities’ judgement.

‘Even if some expert group told me it was safe, I don’t think I’d believe it,’ Rockefeller told WCHS during a blistering interview railing against both the state and heavy industry.

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Don't drink the water!: West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller is warning residents to not drink the water despite assurances from local officials that chemical levels are low enough for consumption

His comments come after both the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and the Centers for Disease Control announced that levels of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol (MCHM) are at ‘acceptable’ levels in areas affected by last month’s chemical spill into the Elk River.

‘They can say it’s not hazardous or this or that, but it doesn't mean anything,’ Rockefeller asserted.

The January 9 spill from Freedom Industries holding tanks on the banks of the state capital region’s main source of water plunged hundreds of thousands of people into a panic.

Virtually overnight, 300,000 people had no drinking water and could not bathe or cook, restaurants and businesses shut down – life ground to a halt.

‘If people can’t drink the water, they can’t live,’ Rockefeller continued. ‘Everything else in the economic, social and personal life of West Virginia just disappears if you can’t drink water.’

The source: Freedom Industries has declared bankruptcy since the spill

From here: MHCP spilled from at least one of these storage tanks

Original estimates put the amount of the supposedly harmless coal processing chemical spilled at 5,000 gallons – that was later revised upward to 10,000 gallons.

Soon after, it was disclosed that an unspecified smaller amount of propylene glycol phenyl ether (PPH) had also leaked from the tank, which had not been inspected since 1991, according to Rockefeller.

He called the lack of oversight ‘absolutely astounding.’

‘It may not be a criminal act, but it ought to be,’ he continued. ‘In this case, on the part of the state or federal government, and certainly on the part of the company.’

The former governor also said it speaks to ‘the degree of control that corporations have over people.

‘They dominate in West Virginia’s life. Governors get elected - and I was a governor once - and they appoint people to regulatory jobs who helped them in campaigns. What does that tell you?’

When asked what he thought of authorities saying the amount of MCHM in the water was ‘a cceptable’ the veteran lawmaker further lashed out.





To here: The chemical seeped into the Elk River, the Charleston region's main source of drinking water

Life on line: Residents last month began lining up for water at a water filling station at West Virginia State University

‘What does that mean? It means nothing. It means absolutely nothing,’ he said. ‘It means, 'It's up to you.' If I were told it was 'appropriate,' I just wouldn't drink.

Officials have instead warned pregnant mothers against drinking the still-strange smelling water that prompted the closure of some area schools this week and held water distribution centers open.

‘Water is not supposed to have that smell,’ Kanawha-Charleston Health Department Executive Director Rahul Gupta told ABC News.

‘As long as it’s in the water, people are hav ing a difficult time drinking… myself included,’ he added.

Others are still showing exposure symptoms including nausea and rashes attributed in the past to ingesting the licorice-smelling substance pervasive in their water.

This is leading many people to consider the viability of living in the region, according to Rockefeller.

‘They’re mostly people with very young babies,’ said the Senator. ‘They look to a future of this kind of lack of regulatory control and discipline, and they say ‘Where I live is less important than my children grow up healthy.’

Ground to a halt: Bottled water was also handed out by the region's fire departments - and still is in some parts of the city

Held accountable: Rockefeller believes authorities need to be held to a firm answer on the drinking water's potability - not just a ban on pregnant mothers while the contaminant smell remains

Restaurants and businesses have reopened for the most part, but Gupta told ABC he is concerned more about the long-term effects of exposure than the immediate symptoms.

‘It is very important that we take a serious look at working to find out what the long-term impact of this chemical is,’ he said. ‘I think it would be a mistake to dismiss… without knowing the realities.’

Investigators are still investigating how the spill occurred, but Rockefeller is more immediately concerned about the health of his constituents.