| Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has signed into law a roll-back bill that significantly reduces the scope and strength of a chemical tank safety bill passed a year ago in the wake of the Freedom Industries leak that resulted in a regionwide water crisis for 300,000 West Virginians.
About 48,000 tanks were registered under the law, the roll-back eliminating about 36,0000 tanks.
Approximately 12,000 tanks are within a certain distance of water supplies, or contain certain hazardous materials and would remain regulated with the bill.
Perhaps the most egregious provision is allowing tank owners to comply with existing state permits instead of the new tank standards.
That provision is expected to drop that number to perhaps as few as 90 tanks covered by the tank safety law.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said the bill "represents reasonable steps to ensure protection of our drinking water resources by focusing on the tanks that pose the most risk."
Various lobbying groups, including trade associations from the coal, chemical and oil and gas industries, pushed to roll back last year's bill (SB373) almost since the day it passed by a wide margin.
The repeal passed with a wide margin.
The new Republican leadership in the Legislature pushed the bill, the measure easily passed the House and Senate with significant Democratic support.
Citizen groups opposed the rollback of the legislation, arguing that it puts water supplies at risk.
Besides majorly reducing the number of tanks, the new law cuts back on the number of state inspections and allows lesser safety standards for some tanks.
Opponents are upset that the bill blocks public information access about hazardous materials being stored in certain tanks or near drinking-water intakes, apparently even under West Virginia's Freedom of Information Act.
See WEST VIRGINIANS CLAIM TO LOVE THEIR MOUNTAIN WATER - Decades Of Toxins Ignored, Comes The Outcry, Then Business As Usual
| 
