FEMA Denies West Virginia Grant Request After Chemical Spill

Federal officials are denying West Virginia’s request for emergency grants to help nonprofits and public agencies that responded to last month’s chemical spill.

FEMA said Wednesday that it determined additional federal assistance isn’t warranted because certain costs associated with response and recovery efforts aren’t beyond the state and local governments’ response and recovery capabilities.

The Jan. 9 spill spurred a water-use ban for days for 300,000 West Virginians. But many wary residents are still using bottled water.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and the state’s congressional leaders will appeal the decision.

Tomblin applied on Jan. 27 to include the grant help in the state’s federal emergency status. His application said state and local responding agencies incurred huge costs to provide water and other resources after the spill.