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Improving West Virginia Corrections, Conserving Salamanders And Accessing Dental Care, This West Virginia Week

This week on West Virginia Week we learn about improvements being made to the state’s correctional facilities. Also we learn about the issues of protecting endangered Appalachian salamanders.

We’ll also hear about barriers to dental care for West Virginians with disabilities.

And join us for a look at a century old glassblowing operation in the state.

Chris Schulz is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.

West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caroline MacGregor, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Liz McCormick, and Randy Yohe. Learn more about West Virginia Week.

Hearings Set To Determine If Paden City Utility Are Distressed Or Failing

The Public Service Commission (PSC) of West Virginia will hold public comment and evidentiary hearings Jan. 11, 2024, to determine whether the City of Paden City and Paden City Municipal Water Works is a distressed or failing utility.

The evidentiary hearing begins at 10 a.m. at the Paden City Municipal Building, 208 W. Main, Paden City. A public comment hearing will be held that same day at the same location beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The PSC opened proceedings on Nov. 3 into complaints about Paden City’s water and sewer systems. The preliminary investigation revealed that for years residents have dealt with contaminated water from a chemical called Tetrachloroethylene or PCE that is commonly used in dry cleaning. The United States Environmental Protection Agency added the Paden City Groundwater site to the Superfund National Priorities List, a list of hazardous waste sites eligible for remedial cleanup funding, in 2021. The EPA considers PCE as likely to be carcinogenic to humans.

According to PSC documents, two of the utility’s three air strippers – used to remove PCE from water – failed in 2018 and 2019. Although one of the strippers was repaired, levels as high as 21 parts per billion (ppb) of PCE have been recorded, above the federal maximum of 5 ppb.

The PSC filings detail a more recent incident in 2023, when a bypass valve for the air stripper failed, allowing a large percentage of water to bypass the air stripper unit and enter the finished water system.

The city filed a response on Nov. 20 that it is not a distressed utility and is not in “continual violation” of statutory or regulatory standards. It also said it took proper steps to remove PCE from its distribution system. This includes applying for emergency funding through USDA Rural Development as well as an application with the Emergency and Imminent Community Water Assistance Grants Program after excessive PCE levels were detected in 2018.

Both systems serve customers in Wetzel and Tyler counties. The City of Paden City is a municipal utility that provides service to 1,262 sewer customers; and Paden City Municipal Water Works provides water service to 1,204 customers.

Tucker Co. Eighth Graders Take Part In Years-Long WVU Experiment

Since 1989, West Virginia University scientists have been studying the environmental effects of acid rain in the Fernow Experimental Forest in Tucker County. Eighth-grade students will soon get to help.

An experiment 30 years in the making will involve eighth graders from Tucker County in its next phase.

Since 1989, West Virginia University scientists have been studying the environmental effects of acid rain in the Fernow Experimental Forest in Tucker County.

Edward Brzostek, associate professor of biology, said until 2020 scientists were artificially acidifying the forest’s watersheds.

“They were dumping nitrogen and sulfur onto this whole forest and watershed to mimic what was coming out of coal fired power plants and leading to acid rain across the region,” he said.

That phase of the experiment ended in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic caused a lapse in funding and restrictions prevented the continued artificial acidification. Now, Brzostek and his team will track different ecosystems within the forest as they recover.

He says the forest has already proven itself to be a strong training ground for graduate students and can do the same for middle schoolers living in the area.

“One of the things we did in this project is design a number of activities to bring the students out into the field, have them collect real data, have them analyze that data and actually learn about all this science that’s going on right in their backyard that they just aren’t aware of,” Brzostek said.

A recent five-year award from the National Science Foundation’s Long Term Research in Environmental Biology program will support continued study on the topic by WVU, the U.S. Forest Service and local students.

New Child Psychiatric Hospital Opens In Wheeling

A new psychiatric hospital focusing on children and adolescents opened Monday in the Northern Panhandle.

Orchard Park Hospital in Wheeling is for youth ages 5 to 18 years who are in immediate need of acute psychiatric care.

The 30-bed hospital will provide acute mental health care for children and teens in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Cory Carr, hospital administrator, explained that, in the event of a psychiatric crisis, the facility can provide patients 24-hour services in order to stabilize them including group therapy, individual therapy and consultations with doctors.

“The key to all of that is to find stabilization,” he said. “We want to find if medication is what they need, if a new coping mechanism is what they need, the goal is to find what they need to stabilize them and reintroduce them into the community.”

Jacquelyn Knight, Orchard Park’s CEO, said there has been a gap in service in the region for several years, and children’s need for psychiatric services has only increased since the pandemic.

“Between the pandemic and the different things kids go through with cyberbullying and social media and just societal pressures, there’s a lot of stress to be a kid. It’s very, very hard,” she said. “There are times when they just need help dealing with some of those mental health crises. We’re really fortunate that we’re able to meet that need now.”

Knight said The Children’s Home of Wheeling took over the facility of another psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents, the Byrd Center, that closed in 2019, to create Orchard Park Hospital.

She said Orchard Park Hospital is actively hiring.

“We are still actively hiring mental health technicians, nurses and kitchen staff to work here at the hospital,” she said. “It’s a very rewarding career choice, you get to make a difference in the lives of kids that are really in need. We’d love to bring some more wonderful people on our team.”

Dangerous Heat Moving Into Ohio Valley

The National Weather Service expects heat and humidity to move into the Mid-Ohio Valley Thursday and Friday.

This may result in heat index values above 100 degrees, posing a danger for heat related illnesses.

The state’s western counties are under an excessive heat watch through the end of the week.

The National Weather Service expects heat and humidity to move into the Mid-Ohio Valley Thursday and Friday.

This may result in heat index values above 100 degrees, posing a danger for heat related illnesses. The heat index combines both air temperature and relative humidity into a single value of how hot the weather will feel.

Francis Kredensor, lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Charleston, said there may be some variability in the coming days, but high heat is all but assured for the region.

“It’s still a little bit of a question just how high it will be, but we’re pretty confident on at least the 100-degree heat index readings, and a good chance that we’ll be above 105 in a lot of spots,” he said.

According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, a heat index between 90 degrees to 103 degrees requires extreme caution. Heat stroke, heat cramps or heat exhaustion are possible with prolonged exposure or physical activity.

Kredensor reminds people to take it easy, especially those with health sensitive on heat issues, and to over exert yourself in any outdoor activity if avoidable.

United Way of Central West Virginia has announced it will open cooling centers across Charleston on Thursday.

The extreme heat is expected to be short-lived as cooler air moves into the region Friday evening.

“It doesn’t look like the front itself has a lot of storms forecast to be associated with it, but definitely it could have some storms,” Kredensor said. “The bigger thing will just be getting some cooler and somewhat drier air in from the north and northwest.”

Permits Soon Available For Harvesting Ginseng In National Forest

The Monongahela National Forest will start selling permits to harvest ginseng Aug. 28 for a season that runs from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30.

Permits will be available at the six ranger stations spread throughout the forest, as well as at the supervisor’s office, Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cost is $20 and allows the holder to dig up to 95 ginseng plants in the forest.

Amy Lovell, education specialist for the Monongahela National Forest, said the permits are a way to help protect harvesting on public lands for future generations.

“Wild ginseng populations have declined over the past decade,” she said. “We’re really concerned about the sustainability of the harvest in the forest. And also we can educate folks when they come in to purchase a permit on the best harvesting practices.”

West Virginians have hunted ginseng for generations, and Lovell said the forest sees the tradition being passed down from generation to generation.

“Oftentimes, when folks come to get a permit from one of the ranger stations, it’ll be almost three generations that come together, so a grandparent with their child and their grandchild,” she said. “It’s definitely a cultural tradition in Appalachia, and we just want to see it done sustainably in the forest so that it can continue for future generations.”

Lovell says the number of permits is limited and awarded on a first come first serve basis. Permit holders are required to harvest only mature plants that have fruited this year.

“We ask folks when they harvest the plant to leave the fruit on site, they can plant that fruit in the ground to help propagate that population,” she said. “This isn’t a requirement, but we asked folks to harvest no more than 25 percent of the legal plants in a patch. Research suggests that harvesting more than that can lead to population declines.”