( CNN ) -- The lingering smell of licorice closed several schools around Charleston , West Virginia , on Thursday , nearly a month after a chemical spill that left more than a quarter million people without water . The unscheduled holidays underscore ongoing public concern about whether the water is safe to drink after a methanol compound leaked from a tank farm upstream from Charleston . Though state and federal officials tried to reassure residents this week , `` We are still getting feedback that there is a level of worry , '' said Laura Jordan , a spokeswoman for West Virginia American Water , the local water company . Jordan said the licorice odor given off by the chemical -- 4-methylcyclohexane methanol , known as MCHM -- is so strong that it can be picked up even if there is no detectable amount in the water . The chemical , used to clean coal to reduce ash , leaked into the Elk River and from there into Charleston 's water supply on January 9 . The result was a do-not-use order that left about 300,000 people in the area unable to drink or bathe in their water , some for more than a week . An elementary and high school located about 15 miles downstream from the January spill closed early Wednesday and stayed closed Thursday because of renewed complaints about the licorice smell , said Liza Cordeiro , a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education . The complaints came as the schools were trying to flush their water lines to get rid of discolored water after a main broke nearby , she said . One high school student went to a hospital after complaining of burning eyes , and a teacher there was taken to the hospital after fainting , Cordeiro said . School administrators dismissed the students soon after 9 a.m. , she said . Meanwhile , a grade school in Charleston was closed early Thursday after the licorice smell came out of a dishwasher , the Kanawha County School District reported . Two other schools were closed as well , the district said . Jordan said some smell and discoloration can be expected as water lines are flushed out . But she added , `` It does n't mean there is any health risk involved . '' `` We 're pushing it out and getting rid of any trace , '' she said . An independent water test conducted at CNN 's request found trace levels of MCHM earlier this week , both in untreated river water and in tap water from two homes in Charleston . The amounts range from less than half a part per billion to 1.6 parts per billion -- well below the safe level of 1 part per million set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Whether that level is safe has been disputed . Dr. Tanja Popovic , the director of the CDC 's National Center for Environmental Health , told reporters Wednesday that repeated testing shows the water is safe . `` What I can say is that with all the scientific evidence that we have , with everything that numerous people have worked on so far , I can say that you can use your water however you like , '' Popovic said . `` You can drink it , you can bathe in it , you can use it how you like . '' And Gov . Earl Ray Tomblin said tests have shown levels of less than 10 parts per billion or too low to detect . Tomblin said he and his staff have been drinking the water `` for the last couple of weeks . '' But when asked whether he could declare it `` 100 % safe , '' he said , `` No . '' `` The only thing that we can rely upon is what the experts tell us , and , you know , for all the tests done that 's who we 've got to depend upon , '' he said . A federal grand jury is probing the spill at Freedom Industries , the storage facility at the source of leak , sources familiar with the grand jury 's activities told CNN this week . The spill was originally estimated at about 7,500 gallons , but Freedom Industries reported in late January that about 10,000 gallons of chemical had escaped . The company also told regulators that in addition to the methanol compound that escaped from a ruptured tank , a second chemical -- a mix of polyglycol ethers , known as PPH -- was part of the leak . PPH is not believed to pose any new health hazard for the people of Charleston , but the state environmental agency said failing to accurately report the makeup of the leak is a violation of state law . CNN 's Kevin Conlon contributed to this report .
Lingering incidents after a recent oil spill close West Virginia waters . A January spill dumped 10,000 gallons of a methanol compound into a nearby river . ` ` We are still getting feedback that there is a level of worry , '' a company spokeswoman said .