Jon Stewart on West Virginia Spill: Building Chemical Tanks Near Water Supply Makes Sense

West Virginia residents can smell when something is a bit off with their drinking water, Jon Stewart noted on Monday’s “The Daily Show.”

The first clue that the stuff flowing from the sink might not rise to the level of potability was when it gave off a licorice aroma, news reports noted.

“There was the faint smell of licorice and also the water gave them explosive diarrhea and vomiting,” Stewart said. “So how do you get licorice flavored polluting water? Were they fracking in Candyland?”

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It turns out that West Virginia could have improved their planning, because massive tanks holding the toxic chemicals were constructed near a major drinking supply.

“I am not an industrial engineer or an expert in sewage treatment or a city planner or a doctor or a mohel, but why would you build your toxic chemical storage tanks upstream and drinking water adjacent?” Stewart said. “Although I imagine because it was in such a vulnerable position it was highly regulated.”

Uh, not so much. Stewart checked his notes and discovered that one of the last times regulators stopped by to check out the tanks was in 1991.

“1991, that was like six Batmans ago,” Stewart said.

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