Two weeks later, West Virginians are just now learning of a second chemical leaked into the Elk River.
Let me see if I’ve got this straight. Freedom Industries – the company’s actual name – accidentally leaked a coal-washing chemical into the into the Elk River, creating a health hazard for hundreds of thousands of people. Two weeks later, Freedom Industries let officials know that, by the way, the coal-washing chemical wasn’t the only thing that leaked.
There was something else that the company called “PPH, stripped” that also appears to have leaked from the same ruptured storage tank. Why didn’t Freedom Industries mention this sooner? We don’t know. What exactly is “PPH, stripped”? Freedom Industries doesn’t want to give anyone details.
And how dangerous might “PPH, stripped” be? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control believes it’s less toxic than MCHM, but officials aren’t sure since the available research is “very limited.”
Um...yeah, no. No. That's just not the way it works, fellas. You let your poison slip into public waterways, you forfeit any proprietary rights. You wanna keep 'em, stop letting them merge with the public's drinking water.