Labor Story Archives - Page 2 of 10 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Middleway Bottling Plant Rejected Unanimously By Planning Commission

The Jefferson County Planning Commission has unanimously rejected a revised concept plan for Mountain Pure Water Bottling Facility, a development proposal that has been mired in public concern since it was first presented to the commission last November.

Sidewinder Enterprises is the single-purpose development company behind Mountain Pure. The planning commission’s decision prevents Sidewinder from moving forward in the permitting process, let alone breaking ground on the project, unless they sue over the terms of rejection.

The company aimed to build a million-square-foot facility to extract and package local groundwater just a short walk from the Middleway Historic District, an eighteenth-century village in rural Jefferson County. But the plan faced a groundswell of pushback from residents concerned about excess water extraction, heavy truck traffic and the facility’s impact on the environment and historic integrity of Middleway.

The planning commission announced their decision more than seven hours into a heated public hearing, which stretched from 7 p.m. Tuesday to nearly 3 a.m. Wednesday. During a public comment period, 125 attendees delivered remarks; 122 of them spoke against the project.

The commission required project representatives to revise their concept plan in November, after unanimously ruling that an initial plan incompletely documented the project’s source water properties. Sidewinder swiftly submitted a revised plan, but its review was pushed back multiple months due to inclement weather and circuit court intervention.

Hundreds gathered for a Jefferson County Planning Commission hearing at Washington High School Tuesday, 125 of whom spoke during an hours-long public comment period.

*Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

At the hearing, Sean Masterson, a management partner for Sidewinder, and Mark Dyck, vice president for planning firm Integrity Federal Services, walked the commission through their revised plan.

Masterson described some comments from residents as “a character attack on us as a business,” and said the project would be a boon to the local job market.

Dyck said the revised concept plan accurately documented all parcels of land associated with the project. In response to resident concerns, he also said project reps planned roadway safety modifications like a traffic circle, and water use stopgaps to prevent overextraction.

“That’s a pretty good guarantee,” Dyck said regarding the water limits.

Dyck also said the revised plan included a mechanism to detect the spread of toxic chemicals from the project site. A 2018 geological survey found that a plume of two toxic chemicals, trichloroethane and dichloroethene, exists in the groundwater beneath the proposed Mountain Pure site from past industrial activity.

The property was previously used by Kodak, a photography company, and 3M, a multinational conglomerate that has had to pay billions of dollars to settle lawsuits for contaminating waterways with “forever chemicals.” Farmers and environmentalists in the Middleway area have expressed particular concern that renewed water use at the site could produce chemical runoff, a claim which project representatives dispute.

From left, Jefferson County residents Richard Gee, Mary Gee and Tina Michael hold signs opposing the Mountain Pure project as they wait for Tuesday’s hearing to begin.

*Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Members of the planning commission said they shared several resident concerns. Commission President Mike Shepp said he still worried the project would be overly burdensome on local traffic, adding that he would prefer to see an additional water study conducted before development.

Ultimately, members of the commission voted to reject the Mountain Pure concept plan on the basis that it did not comply with county policies.

Commissioner Cara Keys — who also represents Shepherdstown on the Jefferson County Commission — motioned to “reject the concept plan as presented, as it directly conflicts with our zoning ordinance.”

As part of her reasoning, Keys specifically cited Section 4.4-C of the Jefferson County Zoning and Land Development Ordinance, which states: “Any development which would destroy the historical character of a property listed on the West Virginia or National Register of Historic Places shall not be permitted.”

The Mountain Pure project would have installed a pipeline beneath the village to transport water, and would have required trucks to travel through Middleway’s streets to reach the site. Members of the commission unanimously agreed with the commissioner’s motion.

“We just made a motion to reject the concept plan for the bottling project in Middleway,” Keys told West Virginia Public Broadcasting shortly after the hearing. “We found, as a planning commission, that it did not coincide with our zoning ordinance and our subdivision regulations, so we rejected it unanimously.”

Dyck declined to comment on the Mountain Pure team’s behalf after the hearing.

Molly Sutter, a graduate student at Shepherd University, awaits her turn during the public comment period. She used her time to perform an original song voicing opposition to Mountain Pure.

*Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Hundreds of residents of West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle attended the hours-long hearing. While some left over the course of the night, dozens stayed until the end, including Stacy Chapman.

Chapman is a nurse, Middleway resident and lead organizer for Protect Middleway, a grassroots group that formed in opposition to the project. For months, Chapman and her team have hosted town halls, spoke out on social media and even knocked on neighbors’ doors to rally residents against the bottling facility proposal.

Chapman described the hearing as a culmination of months of hard work, and told WVPB she was “overjoyed” by its result. While she said the Mountain Pure team pursuing legal action would be unsurprising, Chapman said she views the commission’s decision as a win.

“It’s hard not to cry, because it was not just important to me. It was important to the community,” Chapman said just after the hearing. “It was important to the people who stewarded Middleway for the last 300 years.”

“We were determined that we were going to carefully steward Middleway just like they did,” she added. “And we did it tonight.”

As W.Va. National Parks Lose Funding, 2024 Data Shows Record-High Turnout

Amid federal spending cuts that National Park Service workers say are straining operations and staffing, 2024 visitation numbers released Wednesday indicate that demand for the agency’s parks has increased.

Updated on Friday, March 7, 2025 at 11:46 a.m.

Across the United States, a record-high 332 million people visited national parks last year, surpassing a previous 2016 record that was just shy of 331 million. It also outpaces last year’s turnout by more than 6 million visitors.

Four outdoor recreational sites administered by the National Park Service are located within West Virginia: the Bluestone National Scenic River, the Gauley River National Recreation Area, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and the New River Gorge National Park & Preserve.

Between 2023 and 2024, these four parks saw a net increase of 236,856 recreational visits. While Bluestone’s turnout fell during this period, the Gauley, Harpers Ferry and New River Gorge sites each saw their highest visitation levels in park history last year.

In total, the four National Park Service sites welcomed more than 2.58 million recreational visits last year, according to the 2024 data.

The National Park Service also co-manages the Appalachian Trail, which passes through West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle. Last spring, more than 2,250 thru-hikers registered to hike the entire trail and pass through West Virginia, according to figures from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

The increase in visitation and demand came just before President Donald Trump took office in January. In the early days of his term, Trump set reducing federal spending as an administrative priority, and the National Park Service laid off roughly 1,000 employees in February in response.

But pushback against federal spending cuts from some West Virginia residents has sparked displays of activism across the state.

More than 100 people gathered in Harpers Ferry on Saturday to protest layoffs and funding cuts. Harpers Ferry brought in more than 488,000 visitors last year, making it the state’s second-most visited National Park Service site after New River Gorge, which brought more than 1.8 million visitors in 2024.

In Morgantown, hundreds gathered outside the Monongalia County Courthouse on Tuesday to voice opposition to reductions in the federal workforce and budget.

And, last month, another 150-plus people in Parkersburg protested a reported visit from representatives of the Department of Government Efficiency, a new agency the Trump administration has tasked with advising on federal spending cuts.

The National Parks Conservation Association is a nonprofit independent from the park service that advocates for the preservation of national park sites through lobbying and litigation, according to its website.

After the release of 2024 visitation data Wednesday, Kristen Brengel, the association’s senior vice president of government affairs, described funding cuts as a “slap in the face” in light of increased demand for national parks across the U.S.

“As peak travel season arrives, park visitors will have to contend with closed visitor centers and campgrounds, canceled ranger programs and less search and rescue staff,” she said in a Wednesday press release.

“Our national parks are beloved and storied places,” Brengel continued. “This threatens to put that beating heart on life support.”

**Editor's Note: This story was updated to clarify that the Appalachian Trail, which includes a segment in West Virginia, is co-managed by the National Park Service.

As Workforce Woes Hit Behavioral Health Centers, Advocate Calls For More Funding

The West Virginia Developmental Disabilities Council says strengthening jobs and funding for behavioral health centers and state health programs would help folks with disabilities live independently and find jobs.

West Virginia is home to 13 publicly funded behavioral health centers, run through the West Virginia Department of Human Services. Located across the state, these facilities provide things like at-home care, counseling and crisis support to residents with disabilities.

But the United States is currently facing a shortage in its health care workforce, and West Virginia is no exception. Nursing jobs in the state had a vacancy rate of nearly 20% last year, and a majority of the state’s 55 counties are medically underserved, according to a 2024 report from West Virginia University.

Tina Wiseman is executive director of the West Virginia Developmental Disabilities Council (WVDDC). She said the shortage has spelled trouble for the state’s behavioral health centers, which play an important role in providing long-term support to folks with disabilities.

“Everywhere there [are] workforce issues. But those programs would really benefit from increasing wages, more standardized training, more oversight by middle management,” she said. “Making sure that people with developmental disabilities aren’t institutionalized and lose their rights.”

The WVDDC is federally funded, and every U.S. state and territory has its own version of the council, as required by the federal Developmental Disabilities Act.

“Our main goal is to advocate for people with developmental disabilities, to make sure their rights are protected, to provide education and technical support to policymakers and lawmakers about what the big issues for people with developmental disabilities [are],” Wiseman said.

Wiseman acknowledged that state spending might be constrained by a projected budget shortfall this year. In January, Gov. Patrick Morrisey estimated that the state would face a budgetary deficit of $400 million this coming fiscal year, and said he expects it to grow in the years ahead.

Still, Wiseman said investing in behavioral resource centers, and programs that support residents with disabilities broadly, should not be looked at as a simple expense. She said these services also help residents with disabilities live independently, uplift their communities and rely less on state services, reducing costs to the state.

“It’s a needed investment, and they have payoff,” Wiseman said. “It is, on average, cheaper than any institutional facility if you invest in people with disabilities living in their communities, invest in supporting them to get jobs.”

Wiseman visited the State Capitol Wednesday as part of Disability Advocacy Week, an annual awareness campaign where advocates from across West Virginia come to Charleston to speak with residents, lawmakers and lobbyists about the needs of residents with disabilities.

On Tuesday, advocates raised awareness about West Virginia’s state use program, which helps residents with disabilities find employment by prioritizing them in the hiring process for certain state-requested jobs, like janitorial work and mail processing.

Wiseman said a better behavioral network for the state could spill over into improving other areas of policy concern. During this year’s legislative session, state lawmakers have expressed concern over reports of violence against school teachers from some students, and difficulties enforcing student discipline policies in local school systems.

The causes of school discipline issues run the gamut. But for students with mental health issues or developmental disabilities, Wiseman said more robust behavioral health care could turn a disciplinary problem into a chance for a child or teen to get the health support they need.

“Sometimes, kids just need someone that can maybe take them out of that classroom environment, maybe take them on a walk,” she said. “Just do some talking to them. It gives everyone in the classroom a little bit of a break to kind of reset. It gives the teacher time to reset. And it gives that student time to just calm down, refocus and then go back into the classroom.”

Wiseman feels that providing students support can be more effective than punitive responses to discipline violations.

“A lot of those things are things that really should be dealt with in that manner, as opposed to in-school or out-of-school suspension,” she said.

While investing in mental and behavioral health resources comes with a price tag, Wiseman said it also cuts costs in other areas. She believes that pays off in the long run, especially when it means helping residents find jobs that make them feel both fulfilled and financially independent.

“It all comes around full circle, supporting that community. The more people we can get in the workforce, the better,” she said. “I mean, it’s a win-win.”

Law Reversal Would Help Residents With Disabilities Find Work, Advocates Say

Some advocates say reinstating a priority status for West Virginia’s state use program would help people with disabilities find jobs and expand the state’s workforce.

More than one-third of West Virginia adults have some form of disability, according to 2022 estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These range from vision and hearing difficulties to mobility challenges to cognitive disabilities.

Since 1989, West Virginia’s state use program has given residents with disabilities first crack at certain state-requested jobs without facing outside bids — fields like janitorial work and mail processing. But a 2022 state law removed the program’s preferred purchasing status, deprioritizing its participants in the hiring process.

Now, some advocates are urging members of the West Virginia Legislature to reinstate the state use program’s purchasing status so it can help more residents with disabilities get hired. Earlier this year, Del. Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, sponsored House Bill 2107, which would do just that.

Similar bills passed the West Virginia Senate and West Virginia House of Delegates in 2023 and 2024 respectively, but failed to garner support from the other chamber necessary to become law. House Bill 2107 currently awaits review from the House Government Administration Subcommittee, and has not been taken up for a reading on the House floor.

Nita Hobbs is deputy director of the West Virginia Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, which oversees the state use program.

“We connect nonprofits across the state of West Virginia who employ individuals with disabilities with state agencies who buy the services and commodities that they produce,” she said. “We’re helping the economy in West Virginia by putting people to work. Then we’re also getting people off social subsidies.”

Hobbs called the 2022 bill a blow to both the disabled community and the state’s workforce.

Del. Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, is the lead sponsor on House Bill 2107. He is pictured here delivering remarks at a House Education Committee meeting on Feb. 25, 2025.

*Photo Credit: Perry Bennett/WV Legislative Photo*graphy

“A good example would be someone who might have worked at the same location for 15 years and maybe has autism. They get used to the same schedule over and over again, and they take pride in their work,” she said. “If their job becomes insecure and they don’t have that place to go to work anymore, it can be very unsettling.”

Since the 2022 law took effect, Hobbs said the program has lost out on connecting participants with more than 28,000 paid work hours — equal to the pay for 25 full-time positions. In addition to shrinking the state’s workforce, she worries this could require more residents with disabilities to rely on social services from the state.

“It could actually cost our taxpayers a lot more money if the state use program went away, because you have individuals who are being put to work who might not have been chosen for employment otherwise,” Hobbs said. “So, instead of going and spending money in their local community — becoming taxpayers, becoming self-sufficient — they are then out of work.”

Hobbs visited the State Capitol Tuesday alongside several program advocates to urge lawmakers to support the program and help advance House Bill 2107 through this year’s legislative session. Historically, she said the program has received bipartisan support.

State lawmakers have affirmed the importance of the program and had a “great response” to reinstating its purchasing status, Hobbs said. Still, she and other program advocates are waiting to see that reinstatement take effect.

“This is our third year that we’ve had a similar bill introduced to change the language back to ‘preferred purchasing,’” she said. “What we need this year is to get it on the Government Organization Committee agenda here on the House side to be able to put that bill through to the next step.”

Residents Fired For Failed Drug Tests Would Lose Unemployment Benefits Under Bill

House Bill 2441 would temporarily block unemployment benefits for residents who are fired for failing a drug test.

Soon, West Virginia residents who lose their jobs due to a positive drug test could be temporarily blocked from unemployment benefits.

That is because a bill in the West Virginia House of Delegates would expand current limitations on who can access the state’s unemployment benefits program.

Under current state law, West Virginia residents can be refused unemployment benefits after being fired for reporting to work while intoxicated, refusing to submit to a random drug test or manipulating a drug test to obtain a false result.

But House Bill 2441 would add to that list residents fired for a drug test that indicates substance use. The bill was proposed by Del. George Street, R-Preston.

During a meeting of the House Courts Subcommittee Monday morning, Street described the bill as a “cleanup” of phrasing that better reflects a meaning of state law “implied already.” He added that it would still fall upon employers to enforce drug testing.

“This maybe wouldn’t apply to every single employee. This would be if their employer defines their position as a safe and sensitive position,” Street said. “Obviously, you don’t want someone illegally intoxicated while running dangerous machinery, that sort of thing.”

But House Minority Whip Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, said the amendment to State Code could create the possibility of punitive drug testing. Fluharty said he worries implementing the bill could violate federal laws surrounding firing and unemployment benefits.

“States can only constrict these benefits if the discharge in place was directly related to intoxication or drug use. In other words, the originality where it stems from has to be directly related,” he said. “You can’t just umbrella and say,’ You got into a fight at work and then you failed a drug test later. We’re not going to give unemployment benefits.’ So I believe this could be afoul of the law.”

Street said no legal counsel has reviewed the legality of the bill since its proposal, but that he would be open to modifying its text if needed.

Despite Fluharty’s pushback, the subcommittee advanced House Bill 2441 to the markup and discussion phase, the next step in its path to passage.

EMS Shortages Could Worsen Rural Health Care Issues, Coalition Director Says

West Virginia EMS Coalition President Trish Watson says funding issues continue to threaten the state’s EMS providers, especially in rural areas.

In the last three years, 22 emergency medical service agencies in West Virginia have closed, according to the West Virginia EMS Coalition.

In a primarily rural state like West Virginia, that can make it harder to access health care, according to Coalition President and Director of Lincoln County EMS Trish Watson.

“There’s no hospital in my county,” Watson said. “Much of West Virginia is very rural, so EMS may be the only health care that they’re getting, or their only access to health care.”

The statewide coalition “represents ambulance agencies and all levels of EMS personnel… by providing a forum to exchange information and to address the issues created by an increasingly challenging environment,” according to its website.

Watson said EMS providers across the state suffer from staffing issues, ambulance shortages and insufficient pay.

West Virginia already faces a health workforce shortage, and many rural communities struggle to access care. Watson said these challenges facing the state’s health care system mean EMS shortages are only felt harder.

“We’re getting trucks stuck at the emergency rooms for two, four, five hours, and those trucks aren’t able to get back to cover their county, which is already short of staff,” she said.

While Watson said emergency medical groups in the state have generally lost staff in recent years, she said state and federal funds over the past few years have helped keep emergency services afloat.

“We’ve been able to balance that out a little bit with some of the help they’ve provided us,” she said.

Watson visited the State Capitol Tuesday to participate in an awareness event called “EMS Day.” She said she hopes the presence of emergency service groups reminded members of the West Virginia Legislature of the importance of EMS work, and their need for additional funding, especially to help increase pay to workers.

Watson hopes lawmakers “maintain the budget allocation that we have and increase [funding],” she said.