"WEST UNION, W.Va. -- A spill upstream of the town of West Union during the summer has revealed a gap in the system for notifying drinking water systems of possible contamination.

'We were denied knowledge of the spill and therefore unable to test on our own,' wrote West Union Mayor Robert Fetty in an Oct. 28 letter to Barbara Taylor, director of the Office of Environmental Health Services at the state Bureau for Public Health. 'We experienced operational difficulties we believe may be tied, at least in part, to this spill. Unfortunately, we cannot prove nor disprove this as we were not notified.'

West Union’s drinking water treatment plant started showing high levels of manganese in the incoming water in mid-July, according to Chief Operator Duane Reynolds. "

Pam Kasey reports for 59WVNS November 9, 2009.
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