An editorial from The Register-Herald
BECKLEY, W.Va. — If all goes as planned, the water crisis in Greenbrier County caused by the diesel spill into a tributary of Anthony Creek soon will be over, and flowing tap water restored to all residents of Lewisburg and surrounding areas.
The initial report of the tanker accident and the spill into a small creek that fed Anthony Creek that flows into the Greenbrier River arrived about 10:30 p.m. Friday.
Lewisburg immediately shut down the water plant and the city’s intake at Caldwell.
That quick decision may have made all the difference between what happened in Greenbrier County over the past week, and what happened in Charleston a year ago.
According to a professor at West Virginia University, if the diesel fuel had been sucked into the water intake, he told The Register-Herald, it could have been weeks without water for a significant number of Greenbrier County residents.
The disruptions that did occur were significant to those people affected. Schools were closed, and businesses, particularly restaurants, lost revenue that will be difficult to replace over the course of the year.
But it could all have been much worse…