Pregnant women, water don't mix in W.Va.
Pregnant women told water is unsafe to drink in West Virginia after a chemical spill last week. Officials say pregnant women should not drink tap water, but the 'do not use' water order has been lifted for tens of thousands of customers.
Workers inspect an area where a chemical leaked into the Elk River in Charleston, W.Va. Pregnant women are told not to drink the water, but the drinking ban has been lifted for at least 70,000 others.
Steve Helber/AP/File
CHARLESTON, W.Va.
Pregnant women told water in West Virginia still unsafe to drink, but a tap water ban has been lifted for thousands of other customers.
West Virginia American Water says another 12,200 customers affected by a chemical spill can flush their lines and begin using tap water again.
The company lifted a "do not use" order Thursday morning for customers in Culloden, Hamlin, Cross Lanes, Poca, Nitro and Boone County. That brings to 70,000 the number of customers for which the order has been removed.
The West Virginia Bureau for Public Health advises pregnant women not to drink the water until there are no longer detectable levels of the chemical.
About 100,000 customers in nine counties, or 300,000 people in all, were told not to drink, shower or wash clothes with tap water after a chemical used in coal processing spilled Jan. 9 in the Elk River in Charleston.