Reframing the Issue: Inside the 2014 West Virginia water crisis
On January 9, 2014, 300,000 people in and around Charleston, West Virginia, woke up to a licorice-like odor emanating from their tap water. Thousands of gallons of coal-processing chemicals had spilled into the Elk River, plunging nine counties into a state of emergency. Health officials issued warnings against drinking, cooking with or bathing in the water.
Government leaders were...