Water Pollution West Virginia

The giant oil slick that has disrupted life along the Ohio River since Jan. 2, when an Ashland Oil storage tank collapsed in Pennsylvania, continued its slow flow through West Virginia. Federal Environmental Protection Agency officials said the leading edge of the spill was about 15 miles down river from the Tyler County town of Sistersville. The town of 2,300 has been conserving water by closing car washes and taking fewer showers, while schoolchildren have been drinking bottled water.

About 8,000 gallons of gasoline spilled while being pumped from a barge on the Kanawha River into storage tanks, forcing hundreds of people to temporarily evacuate. Mayor Eddie Bassitt said early Tuesday that tests revealed the threat of explosion had passed, and 450 to 500 residents who had been evacuated to a high school Monday were being sent home.

About 8,000 gallons of gasoline spilled while being pumped from a barge on the Kanawha River into storage tanks, forcing hundreds of people to temporarily evacuate. Mayor Eddie Bassitt said early Tuesday that tests revealed the threat of explosion had passed, and 450 to 500 residents who had been evacuated to a high school Monday were being sent home.

The giant oil slick that has disrupted life along the Ohio River since Jan. 2, when an Ashland Oil storage tank collapsed in Pennsylvania, continued its slow flow through West Virginia. Federal Environmental Protection Agency officials said the leading edge of the spill was about 15 miles down river from the Tyler County town of Sistersville. The town of 2,300 has been conserving water by closing car washes and taking fewer showers, while schoolchildren have been drinking bottled water.

City officials, saying that the worst of a massive but thinning oil glob has moved down the Ohio River, lifted a state of emergency Monday and resumed full-scale pumping from the river. City water tanks, drained almost empty Saturday, were filled by Monday night, Assistant City Manager Nancy Vapner said. Officials continued to urge the area's 60,000 residents to conserve water, but they stopped importing emergency supplies and told the National Guard that mobile water tanks no longer are needed.

Hours after trucking in emergency drinking water, city officials said Friday that the federal Environmental Protection Agency apparently has found a way to purify Ohio River supplies poisoned by a massive spill of diesel oil. Results from tests on the new filtration method were not expected until early today, and a state of emergency that closed schools and businesses and brought in National Guard water trucks remained in effect.

From the pulpit at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, the Rev. T. Scott Allen told chuckling parishioners Sunday that he and his wife had learned to conserve water by taking sponge baths and pouring the leftover liquid into the toilet tank. "We pray for a quick end to this crisis," Allen said, using the presence of a massive oil glob in the Ohio River here to preach the value of precious water and the meaning of Jesus Christ's baptism. He noted: "Last fall, there were floods (in the Ohio Valley).

Workers closed this town's Ohio River water intake valves Wednesday night as an oil slick began moving through, officials said. Earlier in the day, workers had filled three barges with a million gallons each of unpolluted Ohio River water to fortify an emergency supply. The slick was two miles upstream from Sistersville, a town of 2,200 residents, when the workers shut the intake valves shortly before 8 p.m., said Mitch Wilcox, director of emergency services for Tyler County.

City officials, who once boasted of elaborate plans to deal with an Ohio River oil slick menacing their water supply, said Saturday that unexpected problems had drained reserves to critically low levels for many of the area's 60,000 residents. Duplicating recent scenes in communities upstream, businesses closed and citizens streamed to locations where emergency water was passed out--including water in tens of thousands of capped beer bottles donated by Miller Brewing Co. and Anheuser-Busch Co.

Workers closed this town's Ohio River water intake valves Wednesday night as an oil slick began moving through, officials said. Earlier in the day, workers had filled three barges with a million gallons each of unpolluted Ohio River water to fortify an emergency supply. The slick was two miles upstream from Sistersville, a town of 2,200 residents, when the workers shut the intake valves shortly before 8 p.m., said Mitch Wilcox, director of emergency services for Tyler County.

City officials, saying that the worst of a massive but thinning oil glob has moved down the Ohio River, lifted a state of emergency Monday and resumed full-scale pumping from the river. City water tanks, drained almost empty Saturday, were filled by Monday night, Assistant City Manager Nancy Vapner said. Officials continued to urge the area's 60,000 residents to conserve water, but they stopped importing emergency supplies and told the National Guard that mobile water tanks no longer are needed.

From the pulpit at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, the Rev. T. Scott Allen told chuckling parishioners Sunday that he and his wife had learned to conserve water by taking sponge baths and pouring the leftover liquid into the toilet tank. "We pray for a quick end to this crisis," Allen said, using the presence of a massive oil glob in the Ohio River here to preach the value of precious water and the meaning of Jesus Christ's baptism. He noted: "Last fall, there were floods (in the Ohio Valley).

City officials, who once boasted of elaborate plans to deal with an Ohio River oil slick menacing their water supply, said Saturday that unexpected problems had drained reserves to critically low levels for many of the area's 60,000 residents. Duplicating recent scenes in communities upstream, businesses closed and citizens streamed to locations where emergency water was passed out--including water in tens of thousands of capped beer bottles donated by Miller Brewing Co. and Anheuser-Busch Co.

Hours after trucking in emergency drinking water, city officials said Friday that the federal Environmental Protection Agency apparently has found a way to purify Ohio River supplies poisoned by a massive spill of diesel oil. Results from tests on the new filtration method were not expected until early today, and a state of emergency that closed schools and businesses and brought in National Guard water trucks remained in effect.