EPA Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Mon Power’s Harrison Plant Tops EPA’s Toxic Release List Statewide

Out of 177 facilities statewide, the Mon Power Harrison Power Station ranks first on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxic Release Inventory.

A power plant in Harrison County releases more toxic material into the air than any other facility in the state, according to federal data.

Out of 177 facilities statewide, the Mon Power Harrison Power Station ranks first on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Toxic Release Inventory.

The plant is responsible for 7.4 million pounds of toxic releases into the air and water every year.

Sulfuric acid accounts for most of what the plant releases into the air, and ammonia into the water.

Hannah Catlett, a spokeswoman for Mon Power parent FirstEnergy, said the company complies with all environmental regulations.

The next four facilities on the Toxic Release Inventory are also coal-burning power plants, but all four release fewer than 3 million pounds annually.

The four are the Pleasants Power Station, now operated by Omnis Technologies; Appalachian Power’s John Amos plant; Mon Power’s Fort Martin Power Station and Dominion Power’s Mount Storm Power Station.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sulfuric acid forms when sulfur dioxide from burning coal, oil and gas reacts with water in the air.

According to a Mon Power fact sheet, the Harrison Power Station is equipped with pollution controls that remove 98 percent of sulfur dioxide from the plant’s emissions.

Us & Them Encore: Dicamba Woes

In February, a federal judge in Arizona halted the spraying of the herbicide dicamba, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says farmers are allowed to use it for this coming growing season. In this installment of Us & Them, we listen back to a story from our archives, exploring the heated conflict unraveling in agricultural communities.

There’s a nationwide rift among farmers over the use of dicamba, a popular herbicide. A 2024 federal court ruling has halted dicamba’s use, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given the green light for farmers to use existing supplies this year.

In this episode of Us & Them, we revisit a story from our archives that delves into the intense battle unfolding in farm country. Originally designed to help soybean farmers combat ‘pigweed,’ dicamba has proven controversial because it drifts from where it’s sprayed, causing harm to desirable plants. The legal fallout has reached a point where farmers and gardeners hesitate to speak out about crop or plant damage due to fear.

On the flip side, those advocating for dicamba have taken the matter to court, challenging the authority over pesticide use rules in some states. In a departure from the typical tight-knit atmosphere of rural farm communities, where issues are often resolved locally, Arkansas is experiencing an un-neighborly atmosphere, with tensions escalating.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism, the West Virginia Humanities Council and the CRC Foundation.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

Terry Fuller, former member of the Arkansas Plant Board, shows *Us & Them* host Trey Kay the place where several of his hay bales were set ablaze not long after he made public statements calling for limitation on the use of a special formulation of dicamba during the growing season. Fuller also says that two of his tractors were vandalized which caused more than $60,000 worth of damage.

*Photo Credit: Loretta Williams*

Terry Fuller, former member of the Arkansas Plant Board, displays a couple of signs that have repeatedly been posted alongside the roads near his house. One sign could be seen from his daughter’s bedroom window on Christmas Day.

*Photo Credit: Loretta Williams*

Richard Coy’s family has been in the honey producing business since the 1960s. Over the years, Coy’s Honey Farm became the largest commercial bee business in Arkansas. Coy claims dicamba has had an adverse effect on the plant life necessary for honey bees to thrive and produce honey. He says the conditions got so bad that he and his family had to move their business from Arkansas to Mississippi.

*Photo Credit: Loretta Williams*

Franklin Fogelman, a soybean farmer in Arkansas, speaking at a special session of the Arkansas Plant Board in 2019. He believes farmers like him need to be able to use dicamba during the growing season to control weeds in their fields.

*Photo Credit: Loretta Williams*

Reed Storey, a soybean and cotton farmer, opposes the use of the newer formulations of dicamba during the growing season because he believes the herbicide can harm the crops of neighboring farmers. He sees this as “big agriculture against smaller growers.”

*Photo Credit: Loretta Williams*

Charles “Bo” Sloan is the manager of the Dale Bumpers White River Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas. He says dicamba has a tendency to volatilize when the weather gets above 85 degrees. When the chemical transforms into a gas, it can drift away from its intended targets. Sloan has heard the complaints that dicamba might adversely impact agriculture, and is also worried that it might be harming the environment in some of the nation’s protected lands.

*Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Check out the original Farm Wars episode the Us & Them team produced for Reveal in 2019.

Legislature Paves Way For New Green Technology

The process of taking carbon out of the air and storing it is called carbon sequestration. Trees naturally sequester carbon by absorbing it out of the air, using it for energy, and storing some of that energy in their roots.

New green technology called carbon capture can take CO2 released during the burning of greenhouse gasses out of the air. Air is filtered through a fan that uses technology to remove the CO2, turn that CO2 into a liquid, and then pump it into the ground.

This is a possible answer to the excess CO2 in the atmosphere that is causing the climate crisis.

The Senate passed House Bill 5045 Friday. The bill gives the state the authority to enforce Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), rules so the state can regulate carbon sequestration. This is part of a bid for the EPA to grant the state the ability to regulate the new technology. It requires that the states abide by or exceed carbon sequestration regulations put forth by the EPA.

Randy Smith, R-Tucker, the lead sponsor of the bill, said this will help the state get the new technology up and running quickly by bypassing long permit wait times typical with the EPA.

“So EPA is going to put the rules out there,” Smith said. “And normally they enforce these rules. So basically, it just gives the state of West Virginia the authority to enforce the EPA rules, you know, because we can’t supersede the federal (law).”

Smith said he wants West Virginia to be on the forefront of this technology.

“West Virginia is sort of one of the leaders of trying to get the rules and regulations in place, when the technology gets there,” Smith said, “Then we’re ahead of the game.”

Others worry about the risks of a leak in the underground carbon storage that could taint drinkable groundwater supplies.

Around the state some have concerns with West Virginia’s bid to manage the new technology following countless disasters related to the mismanagement of industry in the state.

Smith said this bill is a proactive measure to get rules and regulations into place so those disasters don’t happen.

“The first step is to make sure that when this does happen, that we’ll be able to manage it,” he said. “You know, there’s a lot of geological information that has to go (into it), they’re not gonna be able to just put it in an abandoned gas well or anything like that. These will be specialty wells, where they can’t leak to make sure stuff like that doesn’t happen if this technology does take off.”

Others opposed to the new technology say it perpetuates the use of fossil fuels.

The bill has passed both chambers, but it goes back to the House next to see if changes made in the Senate are agreeable to the delegates.

Another notable bill passed today would make it illegal for drivers to cruise in the left lane if they are not passing, or under other specific situations like avoiding a stationary emergency vehicle or avoiding construction.

Trust: East Palestinians Not On The Same Track

In this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay hears from residents who face daunting challenges. Some say government agencies are doing their best at ongoing cleanup, while others say delays and inconsistent information leave them uncertain about their safety and unclear about whether they can go home.

In the aftermath of a disaster, people search for assistance and answers.

Since a rural Ohio train derailment sent toxic material into the air, soil and water earlier this year, people in East Palestine have needed help. Some look to the government for that support, while others aren’t sure who to trust.

In this episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay hears from residents who face daunting challenges. Some say government agencies are doing their best at ongoing cleanup, while others say delays and inconsistent information leave them uncertain about their safety and unclear about whether they can go home.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council and CRC Foundation.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

An East Palestine, Ohio resident watches a black plume rise over his town, in February 2023, after a controlled detonation of derailed Norfolk Southern tank cars filled with vinyl chloride.

*Credit: NPR*

Until the Norfolk Southern derailment, Jami Wallace was an East Palestine resident. She lived just over a mile from the accident site. Now, she’s moved with her family to East Liverpool — about 30 minutes away. She has a law degree and a background in Political Science and Public Administration. Now, as president of a response group for her community — the Unity Council — she finds herself a de facto spokesperson for a town still in crisis.

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

A yard sign near the center of East Palestine.

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Macklain Hersman works in IT and says he lives within the official disaster area. He has history in East Palestine. In fact, his house has been in the family for three generations.

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Mark Durno, an EPA response coordinator, takes questions from concerned East Palestine residents.

*Courtesy Stephanie Elverd*

EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Diane Russell discusses the air monitoring data that the EPA has collected for the East Palestine area.

*Courtesy Stephanie Elverd*

“East Palestine is quite a conservative area, but what I saw whenever things happened was I saw people who were on the right, who were on the left, who were somewhere in the middle, and some people who didn’t care at all, come together to demand answers and demand justice. Personally, I was proud of that, and that’s part of the reason why I’m here…that beauty in coming together, that solidarity, is what everyone should have all the time.” — Timothea Deeter, East Palestine resident

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

PSC Chair: EPA’s Power Plant Proposal Can’t Be Done, Costs Too Much

In June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new rule requiring power plants to curb their carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent or more.

The West Virginia Public Service Commission is pushing back on proposed federal rules for power plants that burn coal and natural gas.

In June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new rule requiring power plants to curb their carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent or more.

They could achieve this with carbon capture and storage or by fueling with clean hydrogen.

Neither of those things can be done right now, and they are prohibitively expensive, PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane wrote in her comments to the EPA.

Lane also wrote that the proposed rules exceed EPA’s authority and that the closure of large numbers of coal and natural gas-fueled power plants would threaten grid reliability.

Public comment on the new power plant rules ended Tuesday. Court challenges are likely should the EPA move forward with its latest plan.

Capito, Republican Senators Ask EPA To Scrap Proposed Power Plant Rules

The public has another week to comment on proposed rules for power plants. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, have asked the Biden administration to withdraw them.

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and 38 of her Republican colleagues have asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to scrap its power plant proposal.

The requirement that coal and natural gas power plants capture all of their carbon dioxide emissions or switch to clean hydrogen after 2030 cannot be achieved, they say.

The senators say neither carbon capture nor clean hydrogen are being used on a commercial scale.

EPA’s proposed rules would force coal and natural gas power plants to shut down, they say. West Virginia has several coal-burning power plants that generate close to 90 percent of the state’s electricity.

The EPA is accepting written comments on the proposed rules through Aug. 8.