The chemical plant where a storage tank leak led to massive pollution of the Elk River near Charleston, WV, over the weekend, causing a widespread water crisis, had no OSHA inspection history, according to regional agency officials. OSHA has deployed to the site of Freedom Industries to investigate the disaster. Occupational health advocates also expressed dismay at a lack of overall regulatory oversight by state and federal agencies at the plant.
The agency's enforcement database shows that compliance officers tried to inspect the facility in 2009 but the inspection did not take place. A regional OSHA spokeswoman said the inspection would have fallen under an OSHA national emphasis program (NEP) on amputation hazards, but when arriving on site, inspectors learned that the industrial code for the plant was not among those targeted under the NEP.
OSHA does not have an exposure limit for the chemical but does require a material safety data sheet for it.
A release of 4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol into the river, just upstream from the intake of a major water supplier, caused the disaster, which cut off water to hundreds of thousands of residents and shut down numerous businesses. The OSHA spokeswoman said the incident did not cause any known worker injuries, however.
