Myths and Facts about the West Virginia Chemical Spill

Competitive Enterprise Institute senior fellow and chemical policy expert, Angela Logomasini, Ph.D., released a report examining the myths and facts surrounding the Jan. 9, 2014 chemical spill in West Virginia that affected 300,000 residents. According to Logomasini, some environmental groups have taken this opportunity to incite fear, propagating misinformation to pressure lawmakers into action.

“Contrary to what Americans hear after such chemical spills, there are plenty of chemical laws and regulations on the books, but West Virginia state and local communities have not implemented them well,” said Logomasini. “Unfortunately, adding a new layer of regulation on top of what we have, isn’t likely to fix the problem. Rather, we need to investigate where officials failed to employ emergency planning measures so that they can minimize the probability of future accidents.”