Modeling the Fate and Transport of a Chemical Spill in the Elk River, West Virginia
This article has been corrected.
VIEW CORRECTIONPublication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 7
Abstract
On January 9, 2014, an estimated 37,854 L (10,000 gal.) of 4-methycyclohexane methanol (MCHM) and propylene glycol phenyl ether, solvents used in coal processing, leaked from a ruptured container into the Elk River. The spill, just 1.61 km (1 mi) upstream from a water-treatment plant, forced officials to ban residents and businesses in nine West Virginia counties from using the water for anything other than flushing toilets or fighting fires. An estimated 300,000 West Virginia residents were affected by the spill. This paper reports on the modeling efforts undertaken to forecast time of travel and concentration of MCHM as the plume traveled downstream toward the Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) intake. The issues addressed include the flow regime, source term describing the spill event, use of real-time and forecast streamflow, and comparison of model results with observations at Charleston (West Virginia), Huntington (West Virginia), and the GCWW intake. The incident-command tool for drinking-water protection (ICWater) was used to model time of travel and concentration of MCHM. Downstream tracing was initiated at the spill site to forecast the location of the leading edge, peak concentration, and trailing edge of the plume for drinking-water intakes as far downstream as 402 km (250 mi).
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Acknowledgments
The application of ICWater for this chemical spill came about through a request from the GCWW and the DTRA Technical Reachback Team (DTRA received a request for information from the Department of Homeland Security). The authors would like to thank Jim Springer, GCWW and Jimmy Gianato West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for providing MCHM measurement data. In addition, the authors thank Trent Schade, NWS Ohio River Forecast Center and Sam Dinkins, Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission. The authors also wish to thank the three anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments on the manuscript.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 7 • July 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 18, 2014
Accepted: Nov 20, 2014
Published online: Dec 29, 2014
Discussion open until: May 29, 2015
Published in print: Jul 1, 2015
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