Multiple tests on water samples collected at the derailment site and a water intake system three miles away have come back negative for the presence of crude oil, according to Lawrence Messina, communications director of the West Virginia Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety. Nevertheless, he said, "we believe that at least some oil got into the water."
First responders saw a sheen of oil on the water, which was burning, he said. In addition, oil has been found trapped on the ice covering Armstrong Creek, the tributary to the Kanawha River at the site of the derailment. However, earlier reports that tank cars fell into Armstrong Creek were in error. "No tankers reached the water," said Shayne Varner, press secretary for West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
West Virginia American Water is in the process of restarting its water treatment plant in Montgomery, after the plant was closed on Monday out of concern about oil in the Kanawha River.