"West Virginia lawmakers in the Senate passed a bill to weaken drinking water protections by loosening regulations for certain aboveground storage tanks.
It is the latest move to weaken the Aboveground Storage Tank Act, passed in 2014 after a chemical leak from Freedom Industries along the Elk River contaminated drinking water for nearly 300,000 West Virginians in the Charleston area.
The bill would further decrease the number of tanks that must meet inspection and monitoring requirements designed to protect drinking water.
It would exempt smaller tanks, which are those with a capacity of 210 barrels or less, that store brine water or other fluids associated with oil and gas production. But they can’t be located in a zone of critical concern, which are areas identified as important for protecting public drinking water.
It would also allow the owners of some tanks located in critical zones to conduct their own inspections instead of requiring them to have tanks inspected by an independent third party."
Tre Spencer reports for Mountain State Spotlight March 5, 2026.
