CCTV9英语新闻：480,000 affected by poisoned water system in W. Virginia（在线收听）

Up to 480 thousand residents in the American state of West Virginia have been affected by a chemical spill that leaked into the state’s water supply. At least one fourth of the population has been affected by the spill.

The president of a West Virginia company at the center of the accident said they are still not sure how much of the chemical escaped from a leaking tank. Meanwhile, all of the material that was left at the site has been removed to another facility.

"We worked through the night, last night to remove all the material from our sight. The material is no longer here, it’s sitting at another remote location that we have. We’ll do a mass balance on what we collected. We know what was in the tank when we started and we’ll be able to tell you basically what material was either taken with dirt or went out of the facility. We don’t have that data yet," said Gary Southern, president of Freedom Industries.

Freedom Industries is a Charleston company producing speciality chemicals for the mining, steel and cement industries. The chemical known as Crude MCHM is used in the coal industry. It on Thursday got into the Elk River in Charleston, the state’s capital and largest city.

Schools and businesses in Charleston were forced to close and over 700 people in the state have reported concerns or symptoms related to the spill. A water company spokesperson said the chemical could be harmful if swallowed and could cause skin and eye irritation. State Governor Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency for nine counties on Friday.