Drinking Water Story Archives - Page 2 of 6 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

USDA Funds Water Infrastructure In Milton And Tyler County

The Mountain State is receiving funding for water infrastructure from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing the City of Milton and Tyler County with $4,370,000 through the Rural Development Water and Wastewater Disposal Grant and Loan Program.

Milton will receive a $2,552,000 grant and a $1,000,000 loan to address inflow issues with its wastewater collection system. The funding will assist in extending the Milton sewer collection system along U.S. Route 60 and add a lift station to the Salt Rock Public Service District.

Tyler County will receive a $500,000 grant and a $318,000 loan to expand water distribution from Boreman Elementary to Centerville and Alma, expanding drinking water and fire protection to more residents. The funding will assist the construction of a new storage tank to prevent water shortages during dry periods. Funding will also go toward a new booster station for the water system.

“It’s not a want for water, it’s a need,” the Tyler County Public Service District general manager and chief water operator, Tina Lancaster, said. “The residents; most of them haul water daily.”

Reducing Pollution In New River Gorge Through Community Volunteer Efforts

Rafters and kayakers who travel the New River Gorge go through water that feeds in from several sources. One such waterway is Piney Creek. According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, as far back as the 1970s Piney Creek has contained sewage and high levels of fecal coliform, aluminum and iron. In 2002, the DEP listed Piney Creek as one of the worst-polluted streams in the state. A group of citizens formed a non-profit, called the Piney Creek Watershed, to help clean up the pollution.

Stormie Surface and Dayton Copeland are recent high school graduates in Fayette County and live near Piney Creek. For their first radio piece, Stormie and Dayton interviewed Corey Lilly, executive director for the Piney Creek Watershed Association, to get an idea of the progress his group has made to make it safer for residents in Fayette and Raleigh Counties to drink their water. This is an excerpt of that conversation, which has been lightly edited for clarity.

Stormie Surface: Do you know what the current status of the Piney Creek watershed is?

David Smith kayaking in Piney Creek. Smith is seen here dropping one of the bigger rapids on the creek as he makes his way down to the New River.

Corey Lilly: The current status is it is an impaired stream, so this creek is heavily impacted by the development of the city of Beckley. There are more than 20 sewer plants along the creek, and historically those have been providing a lot of sewage drain into the stream. With the recent upgrades it’s improved quite a bit.

Copeland: Where does Piney Creek flow and what other rivers are affected by it?

Lilly: Piney Creek flows into the New River Gorge, and it is a National River protected by the federal government. And there’s a large tourism industry that surrounds the New River. Every year tens of thousands of people come to the area to recreate in the New River Gorge. So there’s a big push to try to increase the quality of the water in the New River Gorge because we don’t want people getting sick. We want people to be able to go out and recreate and have a good time.

One of our most successful jobs has been at the YMCA soccer complex in Beckley. There was a barren piece of land from an old mine site that our organization found funding for, and we were able to clean it up and plant a lot of vegetation and bring in some gardens that helped bring back some insects that were needed. And so we reduced the soil load that went into the stream, as well as planted vegetation and brought back some of the wildlife there.

A litter clean up organized by the Piney Creek Watershed Association.

Copeland: And while improving the drinking water for thousands of people is the main purpose of the watershed, Lilly said he also sees a lot of value in getting people out in their community, working on projects together.

Lilly: We want to help those people in our community the best way that we can. I’ve personally received increases of quality of my life through outdoor recreation and being outside and being with friends and family in a healthy environment. The more people that we can get outside, the better our world is going to be.

Surface: Even though the coronavirus pandemic has put these community events on hold for now, Lilly said he hopes to be able to plan some type of a volunteer event sometime this summer or fall.

Stormie Surface and Dayton Copeland are recent graduates from the Fayette Institute of Technology. Their interview with Corey Lilly was part of a mentorship project with West Virginia Public Broadcasting, as part of their multi-media class.

New Testing Reveals ‘Forever Chemicals’ In More Water Systems Across OH, PA, U.S.

New testing by the Environmental Working Group has identified the presence of toxic fluorinated chemicals, broadly known as PFAS, in the tap water of dozens of cities across the U.S. where contamination was not previously known.

EWG, an advocacy organization that tracks environmental pollutants in consumer products, sampled water in 44 places between May and December 2019. The testing revealed the presence of so-called “forever chemicals” in 34 water systems, including in the Ohio cities of Columbus and Cincinnati, as well as in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Previous testing from the group found 10 PFAS compounds in tap water in Louisville, Kentucky.

The so-called “forever chemicals” persist in the environment and in the human body and have been found in numerous water systems in the Ohio Valley. PFAS chemicals were used in flame-retardant foam sprays and in the manufacture of nonstick and stain-resistant products.

David Andrews, a senior scientist with EWG, said the new testing shows how frequently PFAS chemicals are found in water systems across the country.

“I think what really struck out to me is that we know these chemicals are widespread in blood, but it’s still shocking to see that many of these major cities across the across the country, at least all the ones we tested, had so many different compounds in their water,” he said. “And at levels that were somewhat striking in terms of their potential for impacting health.”

Two per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals — PFOA and PFOS — have been linked to negative health effects. A medical study of more than 70,000 people exposed to PFOA, or C8, dumped by DuPont’s Washington Works plant near Parkersburg, West Virginia, linked exposure to the chemical with multiple health problems from cancer to reduced immune function.

All of the newly-tested systems reported levels of PFAS chemicals lower than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s health advisory of 70 parts per trillion, with the exception of Quad Cities, Iowa. The EWG report says water tested there showed 109.8 ppt of PFAS.

Some researchers believe EPA’s health advisory is not protective of human health. A recent study by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences suggests that safe levels of PFAS chemicals are as low as .1 to 1 parts per trillion.

The EPA is currently debating whether and how to set legally-enforceable drinking water limits for some PFAS chemicals. Meanwhile, a handful of states have taken action to set more protective drinking water standards.

Last fall, Ohio announced it will begin testing some public and private water systems for the presence of PFAS chemicals. A recent report by the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet found half of all water systems tested in Kentucky had PFAS contamination.

W.Va. Democratic Lawmakers Announce Plans To Tackle PFAS Chemicals

A group of Democratic West Virginia lawmakers announced plans Monday to introduce legislation to regulate a group of toxic, man-made fluorinated chemicals.

Del. Evan Hansen, who represents most of Monongalia County, and a group of colleagues, said the “Clean Drinking Water Act” would address the release of per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, also called PFAS chemicals. The class of chemicals includes C8, or PFOA, the chemical produced and dumped in the Parkersburg area for decades by chemical giant DuPont.

The effect of the chemical and related events were recently brought to the silver screen in the blockbuster film, “Dark Waters” starring Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hatheway.

Hansen said the bill, which is still being drafted, would require facilities that use or produce PFAS chemicals to disclose that information to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP would be required to monitor these facilities and regulate their discharges of these chemicals into waterways. Currently, PFAS chemicals are unregulated nationwide.

The second component of the bill would set legally-enforceable drinking water limits, or Maximum Contaminant Levels, for some PFAS chemicals.

The legislation comes at a time when both U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state regulators are increasingly testing for, finding and seeking regulations for these so-called “forever chemicals.”

In recent years, a growing number of communities have detected PFAS in their drinking water. The chemicals are widely used including in everything from pizza boxes to flame-retardant foam sprays and in nonstick and stain-resistant products like Teflon.

Ohio announced in September it would begin monitoring water systems near known contamination sites. In Berkeley County, federal researchers are currently studying residents’ exposure to C8 after it was found at a water treatment plant in Martinsburg. The contamination was likely due to groundwater contamination from the Shepherd Field Air National Guard Base, which used PFAS-laden firefighting foam.

Research conducted in the Mid Ohio Valley after DuPont’s settlement over C8 contamination linked chemical exposure to six diseases including thyroid disease, as well as testicular and kidney cancer.

“I think we owe it to the citizens of West Virginia, especially considering we were ground zero for the impacts of many of these chemicals, we owe it to the people of West Virginia to take matters into our own hands,” Hansen said.

The EPA is currently weighing how to set drinking water standards for PFOS and PFOA. A handful of states have set their own limits, much lower than the EPA’s current health advisory of 60 parts-per-trillion.

Hansen said if the bill is passed, West Virginia would examine both EPA’s decisions and state actions. He also noted he hopes to put safeguards in the legislation so that if contamination is found, rate payers and cash-strapped municipalities won’t be on the hook for paying for cleanup.

“What we are going to get out of this is the chance of transparency,” said Angie Rosser, executive director of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, which supports the bill. “Companies will have to tell us what is in our water.”

Rosser and others said clean water is key to boosting the state’s economy.

“The people of our state know polluting industries drive away clean industries,” said Del. John Doyle, a Democrat from Jefferson County.

When asked about the bill’s chances of making its way through the Republican-controlled Legislature, Hansen said he recognized it could be a tough sell, but said he’s open to hearing any ideas from his colleagues across the aisle or other interested groups.

“I don’t think clean drinking water is a partisan issue,” he said.

During the 2020 session, Hansen, who is an environmental scientist, said he also intends to reintroduce a proposed amendment to the state’s Bill of Rights that would enshrine clean air, water and the preservation of the natural environment as constitutional rights for current and future generations.

The measure was introduced last session and had more than 30 co-sponsors. Two other states — Pennsylvania and Montana — have adopted a similar constitutional amendment. If passed, the environmental rights amendment would serve as a guiding principle for state leaders and regulatory agencies.

Advocacy Group Finds Traces Contamination In Many Regional Water Systems

Tap water delivered by more than 2,000 water systems across the Ohio Valley contain pollutants, many harmful to human health, even though they mostly meet federal drinking water standards. That’s according to a newly-updated database released by the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization.

Millions of residents in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia are being exposed to small amounts of chemicals and contaminants, including those linked to cancer, the group found.

“Just because your drinking water has passed federal standards or it gets a passing grade, it still might pose risks to your health,” said Tasha Stoiber, a senior scientist with EWG.

The 2019 Tap Water Database draws upon water quality data collected by utilities nationwide. The directory was first published in 2005 and has been updated multiple times. The latest update, published Wednesday, includes new data from 2016 and 2017 and analyzed data collected since 2012.

Chemicals linked to cancer, including hexavalent chromium, total trihalomethanes and nitrate, were found in the water of millions of people in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia at levels the advocacy group argues could be of concern.

While just a handful of pollutants at a handful of water systems were identified at levels above standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Stoiber argues federal regulations over drinking water are largely outdated. The last tap water standard was set almost two decades ago.

“A lot of them may be outdated or based on not the most current science, so they might not be protective enough of our health,” she said. “Some of them haven’t been updated for decades or they may have been based on analytical detection methods that are now outdated.”

Greg Kail, directs communications for the American Water Works Association, a nonprofit, scientific and educational association, whose members include water utilities, water treatment technology companies and academics. He said many of AWWA’s members share the EWG’s concerns over the safety of drinking water.

But he said drinking water safety is largely dictated by laws including the Safe Drinking Water Act, a federal law that protects the quality of drinking water in the U.S. As science has improved, water utilities are detecting more pollutants, but finding something in tap water doesn’t always mean it threatens human health over the course of a lifetime.

“It’s important to always strive, and as we understand research, to make sure standards are protective of public health,” he said. “The reality is in order to have a scientific process, we need to understand human health impacts, where contaminants occur and at what levels.”

Two of the most commonly found contaminants in the Ohio Valley — hexavalent chromium and nitrate — are often found when water utilities use surface water as their source for drinking water, Stoiber said.

“If there’s natural organic matter, which could be things like leaves or algae or other decaying, natural things, that can combine with the disinfectants and make chemicals that can harm your health,” she said.

In addition to being byproducts of the water disinfectant process, Stoiber said nitrate is also naturally-occuring and can enter source water from agricultural runoff. Hexavalent chromium, she said, can also enter source water naturally or by releases from industrial plants. Both chemicals can increase one’s risk for cancer.

Both hexavalent chromium and nitrate can be removed from drinking water by installing a carbon water filter at home, Stoiber said.

EWG also assessed the worst-offending water systems using data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online, or ECHO, database. To rank the top offenders, the group also factored in violations by utilities of the Safe Drinking Water Act and the amount of time it took to correct violations.

Across the Ohio Valley, small water systems, many serving a few thousand, and in some cases just a few dozen people, were the top violators.

In Ohio, six contaminants exceeded EWG’s health guidelines at the Byesville Water Department, which serves 4,615 people. None of the contaminants identified by the data exceeded federal standards, although only one pollutant has a set federal guideline.

The utility spent two quarters over the last three years in significant violation of federal drinking water standards. A request for comment was not immediately returned.

In West Virginia, the top seven water systems with the most violation points, according to EWG, all serve fewer than 500 people.

In Kentucky, the Pikeville Water Department topped the EWG list. Four contaminants — arsenic, nitrate, radium 226/228 and total trihalomethanes — exceeded EWG’s health guidelines, although not federal standards.

A representative from the City of Pikeville did not respond to a request for comment.

The database also showed that over the last three years the water utility has spent in significant violation of federal drinking water standards.

Of the more than 2,000 public water systems in the Ohio Valley, 12 percent are either considered “serious violators” or have had faced formal enforcement actions within the last 5 years, according to the ReSource’s analysis of the EPA ECHO database.

EPA defines “serious violations” as public water systems with “unresolved serious, multiple, and/or continuing violations.”

Across the region, the struggles of small rural water systems — many built by coal companies in the early 1900s — are well documented. As jobs leave those communities, water operators struggle to pay for costly upgrades. For some communities, boil advisories have been in place for years.

In Martin County, Kentucky, many residents say water from the tap is often undrinkable. But residents have the eighth highest average water bill out of the 141 districts regulated by the state’s Public Service Commission, according to a report published last month.

“Rural systems are going to face challenges of economies of scale,” Stoiber said. “We know that they aren’t going to have the resources or the budget to deal with a lot of tap water issues that a larger utility is going to have.”

An analysis published last month by three environmental groups found more than half of West Virginia counties rank among the worst in the nation for violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Systems nationwide serving less than 3,300 people accounted for more than 80 percent of all Safe Drinking Water Act violations, according to the study. Even smaller systems, serving less than 500 people, were reportedly responsible for more than 60 percent of all SDWA violations, and for 50 percent of health-based violations.

How Protecting Civil War Battlefields Helps Protect Drinking Water

After the 2014 Elk River chemical spill in the Kanawha Valley, the West Virginia Rivers Coalition created the Safe Water WV initiative. The idea is simple: to strengthen a community’s connection to their drinking water and encourage them to work together to better protect it.

A couple years ago, Jefferson and Berkeley Counties decided to build off that initiative in a unique way – using the conservation of farmland and Civil War battlefields as a model for drinking water protection.

About two miles from the heart of Shepherdstown is the site of the bloodiest battle in West Virginia during the American Civil War. More than 600 Union and Confederate soldiers died in a two-day battle in September 1862.

The Battle of Shepherdstown may have been small in comparison to other battles of the Civil War, but historians agree, the battle not only halted the Confederates’ northern invasion, but it also opened the door for President Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Since 2011, the site of the Battle of Shepherdstown has been a protected historic landmark. The battle site also happens to be at a unique location – along the Potomac River. The Potomac provides drinking water to Shepherdstown residents, and other nearby areas.

“The Landmarks Commission owns about a half-mile of the Potomac River frontage,” Martin Burke said.

This map shows details of the attacks and soldier divisions during the Battle of Shepherdstown. A marker for the cement mill can be seen along the Potomac River.

Burke is the chairman of the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission – the group responsible for protecting the site of the Battle of Shepherdstown.

“Controlling the runoff, planting trees, all helps improve water quality.”

That’s why his group, along with the Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board, the Berkeley County Farmland Protection Board, and the West Virginia Rivers Coalition decided two years ago to work together. They started an initiative called the Safe Water Conservation Collaborative in the Eastern Panhandle.

“We formed the Safe Water Conservation Collaborative to bring together, for the very first time, water utilities, land conservation organizations, and watershed groups to take a collaborative approach to protecting drinking water using the conservation of land, and protecting land forever, to protect our drinking water sources,” Tanner Haid said.

Haid is the Eastern Panhandle Field Coordinator for the West Virginia Rivers Coalition.

The initiative focuses on using land conservation easements to protect drinking water. A conservation easement is a voluntary private or government contract with a landowner to protect land for ecological reasons – to improve water quality, maintain a historic site, or protect wildlife.

Haid said this approach makes drinking water protections stronger, because land conservation easements help to prevent potential contamination threats or development that could impact a source water intake.

In Jefferson County alone, there are more than 16,000 acres of battlefield land that have been identified, according to the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission. Only 861 acres of that is currently protected.

Liz Wheeler is the Director of the Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board. Her organization administers conservation easements to protect historic farmland and battlefields in Jefferson County.

“When we protect land, we’re not just protecting cropland. We’re protecting woodland, we’re protecting streams, we’re protecting historic resources, so it fits into what we do; to be able to contribute to source water protection,” Wheeler said.

But the Safe Water Conservation Collaborative in the Eastern Panhandle doesn’t come without its challenges. Finding enough money to protect the land can be the biggest challenge, but so can educating landowners about their options if they qualify for a conservation easement or historic status.

Haid said, in the coming year, he and his team hope to identify and prioritize areas of land in the Eastern Panhandle not currently protected that are close to drinking water areas.

“And then in particular, closest to the water intake or the utilities who draw up the water, because those are the areas most threatened by development and actions that we take on our land that has an impact on our water quality,” Haid said.

Jefferson and Berkeley Counties are among the most successful in the state for land conservation, according to West Virginia Rivers. Together, these counties have protected more than 10,000 acres of land.

West Virginia Rivers said, so far, they haven’t collected data on how water quality has improved through the Safe Water Conservation Collaborative in the Eastern Panhandle, but over the past two years, they have signed up 30 partner organizations interested in the project.

The group hopes this model – to protect water by conserving land – isn’t just for the Eastern Panhandle but could be used across the state.