Chemical that crippled water supply in W.Va. moved to Armstrong County

ARMSTRONG COUNTY, Pa. — The mysterious chemical that crippled an entire water supply in West Virginia was shipped to a remote mine in eastern Armstrong County.

Three-thousand gallons of what's known as MCHM arrived at Dutch Run Mine sometime earlier this month, Channel 11's Joe Holden reported,

MCHM is nothing new.  It's used in the coal washing process.

But the movement of it drew immediate concern from Sen. Bob Casey.  In a letter to Homeland Security, he asked for increased monitoring.

"Obviously that concern is heightened after what happened in West Virginia," Casey said.

About 300,000 people in West Virginia were told not to drink the water after MCHM leaked into a river.

Because the chemical was not labeled hazardous, officials with the Pennsylvania DEP were not required to track the shipment of

MCHM to Armstrong County.

Even though there haven't been any known problems in Pennsylvania, Casey's concerns have triggered a review by the DEP.

WPXI