The high cost of clean coal

On Jan. 9, a company in West Virginia devastated the lives of 300,000 citizens.
Freedom Industries stores a chemical called 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, or MCHM, that is used to wash coal.

A leak was found in Freedom Industries’ chemical storage facility, and 7,500 gallons of MCHM were released into a major water supply in the Elk River in West
Virginia.

About 300,000 people in West Virginia were unable to drink, bathe in or clean with their tap water for five days.

They were forced to buy bottled water or to drive to nearby towns to shower and clean themselves during the chemical spill.

Most recently, Freedom Industries filed for bankruptcy late last week.

This bankruptcy is unrelated to the chemical spill, but it is a result of a $10 million company debt. The most criminal and unfair aspect of this story is the fact that, because it has filed for bankruptcy, Freedom Industries will effectively be able to dodge the federal investigations and 20 lawsuits it is currently facing related to the West Virginia chemical spill.

Put aside the fact that Freedom Industries was most recently thoroughly inspected more than 20 years ago, and forget the 300,000 people who had to live without tap water for fear of sickness for nearly a week.

The real issue with Freedom Industries is that it represents a larger, more complex and serious conflict within our political system.Lawmakers in West Virginia and around the country rely on political contributions to get re-elected.

The largest industry in West Virginia happens to be coal, and it makes political contributions in order to keep regulations off the books.

Therefore, the politicians who are being elected are financially more interested in keeping the coal industry happy and less interested in promoting the public good.

When our politicians are more interested in pleasing their corporate overlords than looking out for the common citizen and her ability to function in society without worrying about having clean drinking water, we have a problem.

The only freedom that Freedom Industries has achieved thus far is freedom from public
accountability.

I hope and pray that federal and state lawmakers will put an end to that, in the name of the innocent West Virginians who fell victim to this negligent crime.

­— sydhoffe@indiana.edu
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Sydney Hofferth
on Twitter @squidhoff10.