Why didn't WVAW shut the water intake as soon as the leak was observed flowing into the river?

Authorities did not know of the leak when it happened. Initially, they thought the leak had begun around 7:00am on January 9, 2014, but later Dr. Paul Ziemkiewicz, Ph.D., the director of the West Virginia Water Research Institute, estimated the leak likely took 15 hours to drain 7,500 gallons. Additionally, because the intake on the Elk River is the sole source of water for 100,000 WV American Water customers, shutting down the intake would make it so no one could even flush their toilets, potentially causing additional health concerns.