out bottled water to the 3,000 -- 300,000 charleston residents. nbc's kristen welker has more. >> reporter: lester, good evening, i spent the day in charleston yesterday. and many people told me their lives have been fundamentally changed. the state says the water in west virginia is safe but that is being questioned and creating a lot of confusion and fear. life hasn't been the safe in the goldman house since the chemical, mchm leaked into the water supply from a tank at freedom industries three weeks ago. >> what is frustrating, there is no end in sight. >> reporter: for weeks, this family says the tap water smells like licorice, a scent associated with the chemical. >> we have a new normal now, we have new ways of cooking and washing hands. >> reporter: the goldmans say they have been using bottled water and will continue to especially when tests found the levels of the chemical higher than standard, in six area schools yesterday, including at eldest daughter's ellie's school. >> my big concern will be the health of my kids maybe in ten years.

in charleston, west virginia, some residents say they still won't drink the water.berly reports. >> reporter: when this woman learned the drinking water in her state capitol, charleston was contaminated, she acted quickly to keep our customers coming back she knew she could no longer rely on tap water for her three restaurants. >> they are all running on bottled water. >> reporter: but she is now spending about $5,000 extra month so her customers have bottled water with their meals. she says she is paying the price of mismanagement. the chemical's company failure to maintain its storage tanks. on the 9th of january, one of those tanks sprung a leak. and a chemical pored into the nearby river and into the water supply of 300,000 residents. the charleston mayor is furious the owners of the company have filed for bankruptcy protection, and now it's almost impossible for citizens to suit for compensation. >> the damage to our brand will be carried on for years. >> reporter: in the past two years charleston has spent more than $50 million revitalizing its downtown econom

of charleston. into hotels and into some people's homes and it's going to be significant because our brand has been damaged by this and we need to get to the bottom of it. >> all right, mr. mayor. we appreciate it. thank you. best of lucks to your kids. wolf blitzer is here with a preview in "the situation room." you were at the all-star game. you were narrowly beat out by john wall. >> just a little bit. he won the slam. it was very impressive. i had a great time. >> what did he have that you didn't? >> he had the ability to do that kind of -- >> the skill. >> i have no skill whatsoever but he did a great job. >> who do you have on the show? >> we have charles barkley he was at the white house. he sat down for a one-on-one with the president of the united states. saw him there at the nba game. there we are. we're going to ask him, what was it like inside the white house with the president. >> he was one of my heroes. very exciting. >>> coming up on "the lead," whoever thought that the talk show was

in total, these five schools in charleston were shut today.what everybody thought was a terrible accident but one that was over suppose y supposedly. this did start as an accident, totally preventable accident. terrible obviously terrible conditions maintained by a shady company operating at a virtually unregulated industry. but the lack of emergency planning for a chemical spill of this kind, lack of sufficient planning to protect the drinking water intake for charleston, west virginia and frankly the botched response after the fact by officials who keep declaring the all clear before it's actually all clear, all of these things have combined to lead to a situation that the national science foundation is now calling one of the largest human-made environmental disasters in this century. and for our fellow americans in west virginia, this ongoing large-scale botch job has left the people of west virginia with no real idea of who to believe or why they should believe them. the head of the local health department in charleston explained to report

you won't know unless you get it tested. >> reporter: still, the mayor of charleston is concerned. >> try to get people to come to this city and to stay here, and we're going to run into trouble because of this. >> reporter: the center for disease control insists the water is safe for everyone to drink. but to reassure residents and to limit any potential economic damage, the city is sing out-of-state lab to test the water yet again. tom costello, nbc news, charleston. >>> and we're back in just a moment with the big decision that researchers have reversed themselves on for the first time in memory. >>> walter ehlers has died. he was a recipient of the medal of honor, and until today the last surviving recipient from the omaha beach invasion. walt grew up in kansas. he was so young when he signed up to go fight, he needed his mother's permission. he saw a lot of action in world war ii, but he stood out in the fighting in the countryside of france in the days after d-day. despite being wound lead separate times, he took out several german gun crews single-handedly, and at one point dre

and officially the water in and around charleston is now okay to drink.rd to know for sure, of course, because most homes are not getting tested. but the national guard has been testing the water in local schools. and that's where the story gets really strange and kind of just persistently unsettling. so remember, the spill is back in january. february 5th they close down two schools south of town after a teacher fainted and students started feeling nauseated and dizzy with burning eyes. the air smelled of licorice. but the water at both of those schools tested negative for the chemical. the next day three more schools in charleston closed after people there reported smelling the chemical and started getting sick. the water in all three of those schools also tested negative. the next day the water at a charleston high school turned up positive for the chemical, but people there were not feeling sick. so they kept the school open and just flushed the pipes again. a week ago today another positive test, this time in a water fountain at an elementary school

including any similar those charleston's water. if we do not -- if we find them none of the presource water test were federally mandated. this is why rural water association have been advocating to adopt protection measures for decades. they directly assist communities like my own technical resources to implement a protection plan. over 1,000 communities have completelied the rural water process and actively protecting their source water consider how many i will close with the suggestion of federal response in the aftermath of the charleston crisis that allows for immediate protection and does not require any grabbed spending program or expansion of unfunded mandates on local governments. a few years ago congress provided a small package of funding to the state agency that protect groundwater a list of communities that adopted protection plans and copy of each protection plan. such an enterprise would empower the people who benefit from the clean and safe environment to take responsibility for securing it. well, every state and loc

ken ward, reporter for west virginia's "charleston gazette."n very aggressive and very informative and to let the rest country know what's going on, ken. thanks for your reporting thanks for being with us. >> to uh. >> so welcome to russia, everybody. and by everybody, obviously i don't mean quite a few of you. hold on, that's coming up. [ woman #1 ] why do i cook? because an empty pan is a blank canvas. [ woman #2 ] to share a moment. [ woman #3 ] to travel the world without leaving home. [ male announcer ] whatever the reason. whatever the dish. make it delicious with swanson. on expedia you can book any flight, car and hotel together and save up to 20% when you build your custom trip. expedia, find yours. add vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance and get $100 off your deductible for every year of safe driving. which means you could save... a lot of benjamins. we put members first, because we don't have shareholders. join the nation. ♪ nationwide is on your side adding thousands of products online every day. from hard hats and goggle

some local doctors in the charleston area are add advising that children under three years old should drink the water at all. other physicians are advising specific patients to avoid the water completely, in a senate hearing yesterday, west virginia's secretary of state explained the kind of practical effect this is having on west virginia families. still. >> i have families telling me they are melting snow just to be able to give their children baths. >> to try to get a handle on this on going terrible situation in west virginia. a bunch of agencies returned to charleston today to meet with state officials, after their meeting, the governor and various agency heads had a press conference where they claim everything is under control, we did everything, the water is safe to drink will the message ran headlong into some very dogs local reporters. watch this. >> unless i heard wrong, i'm not convinced the water is 100% safe is it currently 100% safe? and are you drinking the water? >> i would like to speak for myself. we are using the water. >> this morning, after a hearing, the doctor s

ken ward, reporter for west virginia's "charleston gazette."y aggressive and very informative and it's done a lot to i think let the rest of the country know what's going on there. thank you for your reporting. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >> thanks. all right. >>> so, welcome to russia, everybody, and by everybody obviously i don't mean quite a few of you. hold on. that's coming up. than a full sheet of the bargain brand. bounty basic. the strong but affordable picker upper. because an empty pan is a blank canvas. [ woman #2 ] to share a moment. [ woman #3 ] to travel the world without leaving home. [ male announcer ] whatever the reason. whatever the dish. make it delicious with swanson. a man who doesn't stand still. but jim has afib, atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. for years, jim's medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but now, with once-a-day xarelto jim's on the move. jim's doctor recommended xarelto.

another one said that there is a foul odor surrounding charleston in the area of licorice and it's notoming from freedom. there is another odor coming from that company that was cause for this. senator joe mansion came out and said there was an overall distrust of the system, the water system here in west virginia a month after the spill. he also went on to say that the regulations are iffy at best. live to some of this that he said a few hours ago. >> we thought that all above ground storage was being tested and checked, but not knowing there was no laws on the book, it was not a hazmat material, it didn't have to be. the chemical safety improvement act which would for the first time in 4 years, 1976 is the last time we were trying to find out what chemicals we're using and how it effects humans. >> delinquent, the water department saying today they understand the lingering concerns because of the smell of licorice and their work to solve that problem. they're going to be looking into the pipings and homes, the epa is researching that. senator mansion also asking the board is the wate

we're at the protest in charleston, west virginia, joining us now. we see its snowing, but what else is going on there? >> reporter: well, the marchers have just wrapped up. you might have thought this ended last month when for ten days people in charleston, west virginia, were told not to use their water because of a chemical that spilled into the water supply here. but it has not ended. 14 days ago schools were closed down because of chemical smell generated in the water supply. that's why marchers marched in today led by the reverend mel hoover. you organized this march against the water department. it seems that the blame is spreading, why is that? >> we recognize that the blame needs to be spread. a lot of people are responsible, and what we're doing now is not spreading the blame so much, but helpinholding people accountabl. they're people of responsibility. they are by law supposed to do certain things. >> you're angry with them for giving you $10 back a month on the water flushing, that's all the residents are going to get? is that part of th

the recent chemical spill near charleston, west virginia. and this spill was the topic of a senate hearing committee today. several called for tougher laws to protect the public. >> americans have the right to expect that when they turn their tap o. the water they get is safe, and it's safe to drink. >> the january 9th chemical spill is the latest controversy in thousands of plants and coal mines, and oversight. robert ray had that story from charleston. >> ask the locals and many will tell that you the place they call home in west virginia is better than known as the chemical valley. >> the risk of having mishaps in chemicals are concentrated because the chemical industry is concentrated here. >> reporter: since 2008, the investigators from the chemical safety board have investigated three dacts in area facilities. the most recent at this dupont plant in 2010. there a worker died when a ruptured hose sprayed him with a deadly gas, and after each incident, they created an oversight board for chemical facilities, and the suggestion fell on de

tets was a guy who lived in charleston he drove to the side of this bill the morning after and he told me that you know when you smell the air you smell that licorice and that licorice is the smell of and c h m which was the chemical spilled into the elk river on january night another environmental activist stockman from the ohio valley environmental coalition she told me the same thing she felt she smelled licorice now it's interesting because the west virginia department of environmental protection says that no m.c.h. was spilled even though people all around her are smelling that chemical so it remains to be seen what what ultimately going to be done and the cleanup crews right now are you know working on gaming out the spill with bales of hay back together with wire with fish sized chunks of gravel and you know vacuuming up the coagulant with they are pouring a chemical industry the coagulant comes together and in the vacuum it up with this other machine they're working on the cleanup process right now as of as of right now even though all the coal is larry spilled into the cannot

in screwed news it's been just over a month since a chemical storage plant near charleston west virginia spilled thousands and gallons of toxic chemicals in the river all bans on using water in the area been lifted pregnant women are still being advised not to drink the water and area residents are remaining skeptical about the condition and safety of the water and they certainly have a right to be there still little known about one of the chemicals that spilled into the elk river and very few tests have been conducted on the tainted water itself so what's the latest coming out of west virginia and what will residents there have access to safe chemical free water joining me now for more on that is karl gibson journalist with the nation of change carl welcome. thanks tom thanks very much on the program and just a quick correction the original story was on occupied ok great thanks for that before we get to have what happened last month understand there's another chemical spill out of a coal processing facility that leaked into a tributary of the qana kanawati river am i saying that right t

al jazeera, charleston, west virginia. >> dozenings of students are dead at a school in nigeria.icials say members seen here attacked the school. it happened in the northeast region, right now the death toll stands at four. although they have not claimed responsibility, the group has attacked schools in the past. several refugees from the conflict in central africa republic are living at an airport, that's because they have nowhere else to go. the people calling it home say they are closer to foreign aid workers. today the frenching parliament voted to keep the presence in the country, but as al jazeera reports for us now, civilians say the french troops don't make much of a difference. it's turf for people to earn a living here, will you are selling wood, or bread, there are few customers. but business goes on under the watchful eye of french and african peace keepers. this is pk 12 district. hungs are packed ready to leave and protect themselves. many people here don't trust the french. some feel they were left at the mercy of the christian fighters trust is so fragile, even th

al jazeera, charleston, west virginia. >> the crisis means that you need to take immediate action torotect ourselves. so on these days of course, we have to recommend that people don't go outside to have physical activities, they stay inside. 20 protect them from the possible negative health effects that we have. >> darren, thank you so much. closing in on an important win in the last 16 of the champions league, with full time approaching last season's runners up are 4-2 up against sates petersburg. the russian team is in the midst of the leagues winter break. they have scored two goals inside the first five minutes. it is stilt up four, zen net 2. manchester unite willed be aiming to put their poor domestic form to one side. they are in greece to face the fist leg of the last 16 tie. kerry brown reports. >> welcome here, where there's no doubt standing here in greece. it means the coach has been able to focus his teams preparation entirely on this match. working on this work to counter the case. they have been struggling in the league, and it means that the pressure is on them to do

robert ray, al jazeera, charleston, west virginia. >> revisiting libya.till ahead on al jazeera america, the u.n. considers sanctions against that country two years after its revolution. >> that's next in our week ahead segment. >> fury over the killing after healthy jer after in denmark. why a zoo says the animal had to be put down. >>> welcome back to al jazeera america. here is a look at top stories this half hour. more than 600 people trapped in syria were able to escape. a brief cease fire allowed rescue user to save a group of women, children and elderly. >>> a california company has recalled millions of pounds of beef. the department of agriculture said diseased and unhealthy animals were slaughtered. it's the largest recall of meat in years. >> an all-american college ball standout says he is gay. at the university of missouri lineman, if he is picked, michael sam could be the first openly gay player in proceed ball. he came out in an interview with the "new york times" and espn. this is quite a big moment for the sport and gay rights activists. >

you could see this is the courthouse here in charleston west virginia where the hearing occurred on the second floor. a busy morning, a couple hours, the congressional hearing a rare one at that, as they came here on the ground, to get a sense for it, they talked to the president of the water company, they spoke to the department of health here, asking top questions to the people, looking at how the spill could have occurred, how it could have been prevented, what happened in the aftermath of this mrn emergencyd where we stand one month after the spill. tough questions to the local water -- >> we're having difficulty with robert ray. one of the things that came out to the hearing robert told us in an earlier report, the members of the congressional committee drank bottled water. >>> the state department saying north korea withdrew its invitation to a official to discuss kenneth bae's release. at the request of bae's family, the reverend jesse jackson traveling onorth korea. accusing him of antigovernment activities. >>> military exercises between the u.s. and south korea set to begin at

charleston spent $50 million, revitalizing the economy.ews of the leak and water will drive away a hope of future investment in tourism dollars. >> west virginia's economic fate has long been tied to the coal industry. it's a poor state and needs jobs. they expect little will happen for those responsible for the spill. state politicians turn a blind eye. >> all we have the special interest. i feel like to some extent they must have the idea that they fought a certain amount. i'm naive use to know if that is the ace. thousands are left to reflect on the relationship with big business. >> in bolivia, there has been mass evacuations. worse hit is the town here, where much has been emerged. crews have joined rescue efforts. . >> china is maintaining an orange alert for smog in beijing. pollution is at a critical level. the most vulnerable have been advised to stay indoors. rob mcbride has been advised to stay indoors. >> it's been a long hard week of smog, the worse this winter, there's hope that the end may be in sight, with a change in the w

the charleston mayor is furious the owners of the company have filed for bankruptcy protection.ow it is impossible to sue for damages. >> the damage to our brand is something that will be carried on for years, probably for the rest of my life. >> reporter: in the past two years charleston has spent more than $50 million revitalizing its downtown economy. now it is feared that news of the chemical leak and tainted water will drive away any hope of future investment and tour. dollars. its fate has long been tied to the coal industry. it needs jobs. she says state politicians turn a blind eye to safety regulations to attract jobs. >> all we have is big professional interests in this state. i feel like to some extent they -- they must have the idea that they have bought a certain amount of reprieve, and i'm not nigh -- naive enough to know that that is the case. >> reporter: [ inaudible ] >>> it has been four years since michelle obama revealed her let's move program the first lady says she wants to phase out the advertising of sugary drinks and junk food on campuses. >>> coming up

members of the house will hold a field hearing at a courthouse in charleston. as robert ray reports, residents don't trust the water. [ chants ] >> it's been a dizzying stressful month in west virginia. >> this is a place worth fighting for. >> frustrated citizens took to the streets, protesting the 10,000 gallons of m.c.h.m. that spilled into the water supply on january 9th, affecting 300,000 people. >> many people in neighbourhoods like these are not drinking the water, even though the centers for disease control and prevention says it's clear to do so. most are smelling the chemical and some of the schools closed because teachers and students smelled the odours and became noushous. >> in their hillside home above charleston, this family is boiling the tap water, using bottled water to drink and brush teeth. they wonder when the chemical smell will go away. >> it's highly stressful and emotional and mentally exhausting. you don't know what to do. we have had mixed messages. >> she has spent $1,000 on water supplies. she experienced nausea and itchy eyes. >> i

charleston, west virginia. >> meantime, farmers in west virginia are also having problems with water, but their situation is with the drought. it's affecting crops and the economy around the world in what is being called a crisis. we'll have that later in the show. >>> unemployment is 6.7%, and that's the lowest in five years, but millions of americans say they need help. so the issue of extending long-term unemployment benefits. john, what's the very latest with this particular bill? >> well, the latest news, del, the vote at this hour is being postponed until the 2:00 eastern time. and let me remind you, this is the emergency unemployment compensation act. they got it drafted under the bush administration, and it has been reopted every year. it lapsed and millions of americans are without their long-term unemployment benefits. so enter harry reid, in the senate. and jack reed in rhode island. and they are trying to extend iting, and pay it retroactively for those who mixed out. and they are going to allow employers to smooth pensions, which means pay a bit less into the pension pot.

which shut off access to water for 300,000 charleston residents. today, they are protesting the water company, accusing it of not providing enough compensation for the he is special of losing their water the th organizer of the rally sd 14 schools were close aids couple of days ago because of smelly water there is no con phipps defense the problems have been fixed. >> who do you trust is the community question right now? we get such cringe re contradicu things from day-to-day. i was told it was safe to take a hour and i can did and i got infections. >> reporter: the tide is turning for local politicians who have long supported businesses like freedom industries. >> marches like this hopefully will show them that industry may be their gravy train but there are other industries who really wants to be here and who really want to do a really good job for our state. >> reporter: these folks say the protests will continue. >> this is a place worth fighting for. >> reporter: those demonstrators are each mailing a list of their demands to the water company

robert bray is in charleston, west virginia where it all started. late every here, robert. >> reporter: sure. good evening, tony. i can tell you we are standing here in the river and the smell, the licorice smell that has been described of the chemical that leaked in in to the elk river we have had that come downwind here this evening. you can see why people are still some not drinking the water, not bathing in the water. there are many lawmakers that are trying to pass regulation so that chemical spill like this never happens again. and there are also many people here in west virginia that are saying, you know, living here is just not worth it anymore. ask the locals, and many will tell you, the place they call home west virginia, is better known as the chemical valley. >> the risk of having this, the chemicals are concentrated because the chemical industry is concentrated here. >> reporter: since 2008. investigators from the chemical safety board have investigated three deaths at area facilities. the most recent in 2010 at dupont. there a worker d

as you said, a rare congressional hearing in the field here in charleston, west virginia. the courthouse starting at 9:00 a.m. this is an explore atory meeting as to how the spill should have occurred here ole eming river. they want to find the reasons leading up to that. they want to look at response, why the emergency management, the state, c.d.c. and e.p.a., the current situation, where they are now and how they move forward as far as regaining the faith of the public here so that people are actually safe in drinking the water and bathing in the water. del. >> here's the problem though, the officials from the company responsible for the leak, freedom industries were asked to speak today but said no. who is going to be at the hearing. >> precisely. freedom industries, particular the president was asked to come here today. they have declined. the last time we have seen anyone or heard anyone from that company that has filed chapter 11 and blamed for the spill was on january 11 in a very awkward press conference where the gentleman came out and said he was sick and actuall

we're now in charleston, west virginia, where the rally finished not long ago. randy, what happened at the protest today? >> reporter: morgan, a couple hundred marched from a local church here to the water company where this has become the focus of part of their angry. they're demanding the water company compensate them for losing their water for nine days last month. they say the company has not done enough. they included envelopes to the company that contain bits of licorice because the smell from the chemicals that spilled last month smell like licorice. >> what is the remaining concern besides the smell of licorice that you just mentioned? >> reporter: well, the health department says all their testing shows that the testing is safe. there might be a bit of the chemical in the water not enough to make the resident unhealthy, but residents say that the smell irritates them, and one man said he feels it all and doe. >> i was told to take a shower when we were told it was safe to take a shower. i had eye infections. >> reporter: again, morgan, the blame game ha

he's in this winter weather in charleston, south carolina, when college of charleston student colin wants to get his 15 minutes of fame doing this. >> a little bit later on tonight. >> jim handles that better than anybody could have. i mean, such veteran move, right? just ninja style. >> exactly. they slowed it down which makes jim look even more like a bad ass because look at that move. he's looking right at camera with the knee up kneeing this kid. colin in what looks like the junk. colin said he got him in the leg. but the original video has 2 million views. a new station wcsc actually interviewed colin. to make this work colin met jim cantore right before this, got a picture with the guy and then he saw him go on tv and decided to ruin the guy's live shot which is awful but the new video i have to show you is this one. >> jim cantore what you know about this. >> the kid shot himself about to do what he was going to do, you got to be kidding me. >> okay. so he tried to ruin his live shot but in reality he gave him a viral video and now everybody thinks jim is kind of a bad ass. >> and

>> i could possibly foresee an impact on charleston. we will see if that is broader.d of impact would that be? >> the same sort of thing so those folks that are implicated will be removed from most responsibilities and other folks will have to possibly pick up those duties. additionaadditiona lly there will be a certification process before i allow any kind of operation in those plans as well. >> admiral richardson do you see anything comparable involving submarine crew. why is it comparable? you are talking about something that happened in a training atmosphere and the other is telling about something that happened on it -- >> elements that concern me are not so much where it happens but the nature of the incident which is loath memphis ended this case we have one violation of integrity, one of our core principles. two, you have some kind of collusion amongst particularly senior people so on those rare occasions where we find those two things is of particular concern to us. that is why i draw parallels between those two incidents. >> can i go back to your under 1% re

hundreds of people marched saturday from a charleston church to the city's water company. they were furious at freedom industries for causing the chemical spill, which shut off access to water for 300,000 charles as far as residents, but today they are protesting the water company, accusing it of not providing enough compensation for the expense of losing their water. the organizer of the rally says after 14 schools were close aids couple of days ago because of smelly water there is no confidence the problems have been fixed. >> who do you trust as the community -- is the community question right now? we get some contradictory things that vary from day-to-day. i was told and took a shower when we were told it was it have to sake a shower and i had eye infections and problems. >> reporter: and marchers say they think the tide is starting to turn for local politicians who have long supported businesses like freedom industries. >> marches like this hopefully will show them that industry may be their gravy train but there are other industries that want to be here and who reall

>> i could possibly foresee an impact in charleston. we'll see if that is broader. >> what -- of impact would that be, sir? >> the same sort of thing. so there's those folks that are implicated are gonna be removed from those responsibilities. and other folks will have to possibly pick up those duties. additionally, there will be a certification process before i allow any kind of operation of those plants as well. >> admiral richardson, you said the only thing comparable involved is submarine crew. were you talking about the memphis? >> that is it, right. >> ok, why is it comparable? you're talking about something that happened in a training atmosphere, and the other one is talking -- you're talking about something that happened on an attack submarine. >> right. the elements that concern me are not so much the, you know, where it happens, but the nature of the incident, which is both on memphis and, in this case, we have one, a violation of integrity, one of our core principles. two, you have some kind of an, you know, collusion amongst

and yes i was getting back to normal in charleston. the mind set they will not reimburse west virginia were still costs because it sends the spill was not big enough or severe enough to warrant grant assistance under emergency declarations. as for reimbursement from freedom in history it's not happening anytime soon since the company filed for chapter eleven bankruptcy. i'm sure you've heard of this next bill. energy spirited eighty two s thousand tonnes of coal ash mixed with twenty seven million gallons of contaminated water into drinking and a river after a planned route. it took six days to stop the leak and our friends are being told not to eat the fish. you're still sites. something that you might not know. north carolina's new governor patrick already works for duke energy for nearly three decades according to hospitals. today federal authorities are launching a criminal investigation into the north carolina department of environment and resource it's an investigative report by the associated press found that state regulators a

three hundred thousand residents and just one life was getting back to normal in charleston fema announce that it will not reimburse west virginia for spill costs because it says the spill was not big enough or severe enough to warrant grant assistance under emergency declarations as for reimbursement from freedom industries not happening anytime soon since the company filed for chapter eleven bankruptcy i'm sure you've heard of this next bill duke energy spewed eighty two thousand tons of coal ash mixed with twenty seven million gallons of contaminated water into the dan river after a pipe broke it took six days to stop the leak and now residents are being told not to eat the fish near the spill sites something that you might not know north carolina's new governor. pat mccrory worked for duke energy for nearly three decades before he took public office today federal authorities are launching a criminal investigation into the north carolina department of environment and resources an investigative report by the associated press found that state regulators are shielded the company from laws

of three hundred thousand people in west virginia just over a month ago since then the city of charleston is closed at least three schools after detecting the black licorice scent of the chemical and c h m and get this although there has been no credible churns by authorities that the water is safe to drink residents are still getting water bills you heard that right charleston residents are actually being billed for potentially poisonous water needless to say residents are furious and currently there's a clock a class action lawsuit underway there's no silver lining to this story as freedom industries the company responsible for the catastrophic spill recently filed for bankruptcy the bankruptcy by the way is also being investigated as a company called mountaineer fundings stepped up to provide bankruptcy capital for freedom industries the conflict of interest here stems from the fact that the man who owns mouneer funding also owns you guessed it freedom industries it seems the company is poised to transfer assets under another name leaving the baggage of the nasty chemical spill for som

now river is a big body of water that runs through charleston and next to the ohio river which continues on to indiana and kentucky and the knots. also connected to the canal and river is the elk river which is where they can see a standstill happened on january nine the slurry is a mixture of all the stock market and chemicals. luckily the company discontinued its use of ncaa champion at supplying just last month as a result of the freedom industry still and very little of it was in this batch of slurry. otherwise in on the vacancy hm what happened. sometimes i hear natalie that contaminated the water three hundred thousand charleston presidents laurie and this slurry include highly toxic metals like arsenic lead and cadmium tore me up on your net nanny is aluminium and nickel that according to the environmental group the flight to safety projects us virginia coal association spoke with our teeth today and said that the spill of coal slurry is not a danger to west virginians presidents since the sydney water intakes immediately downstream from that plant that ants. the spokesman went on