Don't cry over spilled oil

Recently in West Virginia, a coal-washing chemical was leaked into a river which serves as a source of water to many homes. Now if you're suffering from medical problems related to this water, then this is not like spilled milk and you entirely have the privilege to cry! Though this oil spill was not as much of a debacle as the BP oil spill, locals have been told by officials not to use their tap water except for flushing the toilet.

The chemical is categorized as an alcohol therefore in high concentrations it's even flammable! Being this is a industrial chemical, the effects of it on a person's health are still unknown. Well that's reassuring! Even though this event is inconvenient for the people whose homes are affected by this spill, consider how this is a good promotion for water purification companies like Brita! "Tired of having oil in your water source? A brand new Brita filter will get the job done!"

It's also interesting how factors of nature interact with this chemical in the water. The chemical already has a half-life of two weeks without including other factors. This means half of the harmful molecules of the element will decay after two weeks. When factors such as soil, air, and sunlight are added, this process can even be sped up. Read more in the article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-dangerous-is-the-chemical-spilled-in-west-virginia&page=2.

The case of this oil spill shows even though we may have the chemicals to attempt to repair our mistakes, sometimes it's better to just let nature take its course. It's almost like the water cycle and other cycles were made considering our ignorant behavior! How convenient! Honestly, I'm very impressed some person didn't show up and say "Well let's pump more chemicals into the river to get the chemicals out!" Still, though the decay of the chemical molecules will take place, the thought of the oil spill will always remain in the communities affected by this. Some precaution when dealing with hazardous chemicals would be nice.