Facility where chemicals spilled into W.Va. river flew under regulatory radar
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The facility whose chemical spill contaminated the water supply for 300,000 West Virginia residents was barely scrutinized, flying largely under the radar of government regulators who viewed it as a low-risk operation — but in reality, a problem at a key holding wall went undetected and unreported at Freedom Industries Inc.
The chemicals stored at Freedom’s facility near the Elk River are not considered hazardous enough by regulators to prompt routine inspections. As a result, the chemical storage terminal was a low priority for regulators, who must pick and choose how to allocate scarce manpower when enforcing environmental laws.
Freedom’s storage terminal holds millions of pounds of chemicals — including some used in coal processing — just a mile and a half upstream from pipes that take in water for a public drinking supply. The distance left little opportunity for chemicals to dilute in the event of a spill.
And those chemicals were stored behind a brick-and-concrete block dike that seems to have had structural problems — an issue the company apparently was aware of. A state official says the president told regulators that Freedom had put $1 million into an escrow account to fix the wall that ultimately failed to hold Thursday’s spill, which resulted in a five-day ban on tap water. The ban was lifted for some areas Monday afternoon.
Supreme Court appears likely to limit president’s use of recess appointments
WASHINGTON — Just back from their own long break, Supreme Court justices set out Monday to resolve a politically charged fight over when the Senate’s absence gives the president the power to make temporary appointments to high-level positions without senators’ approval.
The legal battle is the outgrowth of partisan rancor over presidential appointees that has characterized Washington over the past 20 years, and especially since President Barack Obama took office in 2009.
Recess appointments have divided Democrats and Republicans, with views changing depending on which party holds the White House. But during more than 90 minutes of arguments Monday, the Obama administration was hard pressed to find support for its stand in favor of recess appointments from justices named by Republicans and Democrats alike — including Obama.
Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama nominee, seized on the political dispute to make the point to Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. that “congressional intransigence” to Obama nominees may not be enough to win the court fight.
Pilots who landed at wrong Mo. airport are grounded while authorities investigate
DALLAS — The pilots of a Southwest Airlines flight that mistakenly landed at the wrong Missouri airport were grounded Monday, less than a day after they touched down at a small airfield that gave them only half as much room as normal to stop the jet.
Southwest Flight 4013 was traveling Sunday evening from Chicago’s Midway Airport to Branson Airport but instead landed at tiny Taney County Airport seven miles away.
No one was hurt, but after the 124 passengers were let off the plane, they noticed the airliner had come dangerously close to the end of the runway, where it could have tumbled down a steep embankment if it had left the pavement.
“I was wearing a seatbelt, but I was lurched forward because of the heavy pressure of the brake. You could smell burnt rubber, a very distinct smell of burnt rubber as we were stopping,” said Scott Schieffer, a Dallas attorney.
Branson Airport has a runway that is more than 7,100 feet long — a typical size for commercial traffic. The longest runway at Taney County is only slightly more than 3,700 feet because it is designed for small private planes.
By wire sources