KANAWHA COUNTY, WV (WOWK) – Water testing is still ongoing after a tractor trailer crashed caused a chemical spill in the Paint Creek area in August 2022.

Kanawha County commissioners say they have also received new information regarding testing following a Freedom of Information Act request to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

According to the commission, officials from Potesta & Associates, the trucking company, Gadsden, Gaillard and West, LLC, to monitor the site of the spill in both dry weather and after rain events, allegedly observed foaming on the hillside, bench and ditch near the spill site on Feb. 17, 2023, that appear to be connected to the chemical spill.

The commission says the information states the foam appeared to be flowing over filter socks that had been installed after Potesta officials saw foam both up and down stream from the spill site on Jan. 17, when they also smelled a faint odor.

Commissioners say they are still working with an independent lab to coordinate more testing in the impacted areas, and have signed a contract with the company Enviroprobe to provide consulting services for response and remediation.

In January, the Kanawha County Commission filed a lawsuit against Gadsden, Gaillard and West, LLC. over the spill. On Aug. 24, 2022, Dennis West, was the driving for the trucking company when his truck crashed on the West Virginia Turnpike near Pax, causing the chemical spill and closing part of the West Virginia Turnpike for nearly 20 hours.

Commissioners say the chemical that spilled into Skitter Creek, which flows into Paint Creek, was a surfactant called Empigen AS/F90, which is not soluble in water. The spill created what the commission calls a “safety hazard and public nuisance” that negatively impacted residents and property in the area. They say it killed more than 30,000 fish and polluted the drinking water for people in the area.

West was arrested on suspicion of DUI following the crash, authorities said.