State officials are investigating a small gas and motor oil spill that occurred in the Elkview area while a contractor was using a portable car crusher at Mitch's Towing.
The state Department of Environmental Protection received a complaint from a citizen about the incident. A DEP inspector found a visible sheen on Givens Branch, a tributary of the Elk River. DEP did not release an estimate of the spill's size, but said there was no evidence that "any significant quantity, or any amount at all" made it into the Elk.
Operations at the site have been halted since the investigation began, the DEP said. DEP said that "appropriate cleanup measures were initiated immediately." The name of the contractor was not included in a statement issued by the DEP.
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper issued a news release that complained that neither the county nor West Virginia American Water, whose regional drinking water intake is downstream on the Elk in Charleston, were notified of the incident in a timely manner. Laura Martin, spokeswoman for the water company, said that West Virginia American's testing found no problems in its Elk River supply.
Carper's release said that the gas and motor oil was believed to have come from a problem with the car crusher, which was supposed to be able to contain wastes from the cars.
The state's Public Water System Supply Study Commission has recommended that the state improve the procedures through which water systems are notified of such incidents.