Chemical spill in West Virginia leads to tap water ban for 300,000 people Local media showed pictures of West Virginia residents lining up at stores for bottled water, and store shelves that had been emptied of their supplies. Dr. Rahul Gupta, health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston and the Putnam County Health Departments, ordered closed all restaurants, body art parlours and schools that receive water from the West Virginia American Water company. "You can't have schools without water," said Tomblin's spokeswoman, Amy Shuler Goodwin. She did not know when the ban would be lifted. Tomblin said his office was working with the National Guard and the state's Office of Emergency Services to provide water and supplies through county emergency services offices as quickly as possible. The spill originated with Freedom Industries, a Charleston company, according to Laura Jordan, external affairs manager for West Virginia American Water. It occurred right above the intake of the Kanawha Valley water treatment plant in Charleston - the largest in West Virginia - and affects 100,000 homes and businesses, or 250,000 to 300,000 people, Jordan said. "It could be potentially harmful if swallowed and could potentially cause skin and eye irritation," Jordan said. Shuler Goodwin said that Thursday morning the West Virginia Department of Environment Protection got a report of an odour - described in local media as resembling black liquorice - and visited the Freedom Industries site. There, officials found a leaking storage unit. Jordan said the water company and state environmental officials were conducting tests on the water. The company is working with state and federal authorities to get residents access to bottled water, and water distribution sites will be announced through local media, Jordan said. A representative for Freedom Industries was not immediately available for comment. The company says on its website it is a producer of speciality chemicals for the mining, steel and cement industries.