Page-Kincaid Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

W.Va. PSC Urges Fayette Co. Utility To Consider West Virginia American Water Takeover

The West Virginia Public Service Commission is urging a small, struggling water utility in Fayette County to consider allowing a larger provider to take over its water assets, following requests from hundreds of customers over the last year.

Engineering staff for the PSC said during a status conference Tuesday that they support the acquisition of the Page-Kincaid Public Service District’s water assets by West Virginia American Water.

“There’s a lot of equipment that needs to be replaced in the Page-Kincaid water system,” PSC engineer James Weimer told commissioners. “The plant obviously has some serious problems … missing pumps, pumps that are leaking, check valves that are leaking badly and having to be pumped multiple times a minute …”

West Virginia American Water, one of the state’s largest publicly regulated water providers, offered to take over Page-Kincaid’s water assets Jan. 31, following months of discussions with the small, struggling utility.

During the status conference Tuesday, local vice president of operations Chris Carew shared American Water’s plans for an acquisition, including what the company would replace and how much it would plan to spend.

The PSC initiated a general investigation into the Page-Kincaid Public Service District May 20, after Page-Kincaid declared a boil-water advisory for its roughly 640 water customers May 18.

Page-Kincaid board members and employees maintain they issued the advisory as an overcautious response to one isolated incident of vandalism.

Bart Jackson, operations manager, told the PSC Tuesday that his employees regularly test the water they treat.

However, customers and the Fayette County Commission have said the water was dirty and expensive long before that boil-water advisory. Roughly two-thirds of Page-Kincaid’s customer base signed a petition more than a year ago, demanding action from the PSC.

PSC attorney Linda Bouvette suggested to commissioners on Tuesday that Page-Kincaid is using surface water standards to test groundwater. That would mean Page-Kincaid isn’t testing for contaminants from coal mining and oil drilling that might reach groundwater.

“It’s clear that the situation down there is totally unacceptable. And the people in this room have the ability to do something about it,” said PSC Chair Charlotte Lane during Tuesday’s meeting. “This is just being dragged out and dragged out, and it’s totally unacceptable.”

Lane and other commissioners heard accounts from attorneys for both Page-Kincaid and West Virginia American Water Tuesday.

The two providers spent months discussing a deal, but talks dissipated after Page-Kincaid rejected American Water’s offer in February, stating Page-Kincaid would only consider an offer that included acquiring its sewer system, serving roughly 400 customers.

West Virginia American Water requested information on the assets from Page-Kincaid in December, according to orders from the PSC. Page Kincaid didn’t provide information on its sewer assets until June, following an order from the PSC.

Carew said American Water still has to perform its “due diligence” and review the sewer site in person before it can consider acquiring the wastewater system.

During Tuesday’s hearing, an attorney for Page-Kincaid said the utility’s three-member board would still consider an acquisition if American Water offered to acquire the entire system, for both water and wastewater.

Bouvette from the PSC and representatives for American Water said Page-Kincaid’s request was like “the tail wagging the dog.”

John David, a member of the Page-Kincaid board, told commissioners Tuesday he disagrees an acquisition by American Water would be best for customers.

David said he’s been on the Page-Kincaid board since the 1970s, when the public service district was created. He told the PSC Tuesday he fears an acquisition would result in higher monthly rates to customers.

“The reason that we founded it was because we were concerned about iron water,” he told commissioners Tuesday. “And we tried to then say we need to have a system to deal with that issue. So it’s not a new issue.”

David has said in a previous interview with West Virginia Public Broadcasting that the water is fine to his knowledge. Before replacing one of three old filters in 2019, he blamed problems with the water quality on nearby mining.

PSC engineer Weimer touched on contaminants from nearby mining enterprises and old oil-drilling efforts in his presentation to the commission Tuesday morning, as well. He added he couldn’t definitively say what’s contaminating the Page-Kincaid water.

Yet, David told the PSC Tuesday that he believes if Page-Kincaid remains locally run, there’s hope for change through new repairs.

“We feel that we have the capability to operate a really good water system,” David said.

The Fayette County Commission filed petitions for the removal of all three board members in June. The USDA, from which a representative was present for Tuesday’s meeting, reports Page-Kincaid has more than $200,000 in outstanding balance for water loans and more than $813,000 in outstanding balance for sewage loans.

Lane, who chairs the PSC, said during Tuesday’s hearing commissioners will issue an order shortly, referenced two pieces of legislation the governor signed in March during her closing remarks. Senate Bill 739 gives the PSC the ability to deal with failing water and sewer systems by ordering or facilitating an acquisition, and Senate Bill 551 would allow large water utilities like American Water to merge with or buy both smaller utilities’ running water and sewer systems.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

State PSC Investigation Into Fayette Co. Water Utility Underway

Jessica Shockey’s problems with her water started right after she moved from Fayetteville to the small, unincorporated coal town of Laurel Creek two years ago. She gutted and remodeled an old house she bought with her husband, replacing all of the plumbing, and spending more than $15,000 on new appliances.

Today, she says she has to bleach those sink basins and toilets almost daily because of the water. Not only is she scared to drink it, but she won’t even risk giving it to her pets or letting her 8-year-old son bathe in it. She gets three, five-gallon jugs of water delivered to her home monthly for cooking and brushing her teeth – all while still paying utility fees to the Page-Kincaid Public Service District.

“As soon as you turn the faucet on, it’s either yellow, brown or copper-like looking,” Shockey said. “And if you leave it in like a glass or a bottle for hours, for hours at a time, you come back to it and it has particles that look like rust.”

Last fall, Shockey said she brought clear bottles, full of brown water straight from her tap, to a public hearing with the West Virginia Public Service Commission in October.

The PSC announced in May that the regulatory body is investigating complaints from Shockey and others regarding the Page-Kincaid Public Service District, which services more than 600 customers in western Fayette County.

It’s been almost a year since Page-Kincaid customers first requested an investigation. According to the PSC, more than 400 people served by the utility signed petitions last July, attesting to poor service quality and high utility rates.

The investigation, announced May 20, also follows months of failed negotiations between the small Fayette County utility and West Virginia American Water, a national company serving more than 550,000 customers statewide, including certain areas of Fayette County.

“For a number of years, I’m sure that the service was provided and it was a good service,” county commission president Denise Scalph said of Page-Kincaid. “But, you know, throughout the years, and particularly in the last couple years, the people there have suffered. There has to be an answer for the problems that they’ve been experiencing.”

The PSC said in filings it held back on investigating the complaints last year because it was already considering a request from Page-Kincaid to complete a $3.35 million rehabilitation project.

The utility’s board member and secretary John David said the plan was to replace three large water filters, and the utility needed approval from the PSC to apply for certain grants to do that.

But the utility withdrew its request after West Virginia American Water intervened and offered to help develop an alternative solution to the utility’s water problems. In January, American Water had two proposals: American Water could slowly take over the Page-Kincaid water distribution system over three years, or the company could sell treated water to Page-Kincaid.

Page-Kincaid rejected both offers in February, though, saying the local utility would only consider an offer that included taking over its sewer system.

American Water has said Page-Kincaid never provided requested information on the sewer system. The PSC has ordered that Page-Kincaid file that information by Wednesday, June 10.

David referred to the failed negotiations as part of “an orchestrated campaign” on the Public Service Commission’s part. He said he would be concerned about the quality and price of water American Water would provide, if the company were to take over.

“American Water would charge more than we do,” he said. “And water loss would be an issue. They wouldn’t take our sewage facility … And so it just turned out to be a real difficult situation for us to kind of go along with.”

Page-Kincaid board member John David says the water runs clear at a nonprofit he works at in Kincaid.

In fact, David doesn’t think there’s a problem with the water to begin with.

According to documents from the Fayette County Commission, David himself is not a customer of the Page-Kincaid district, in violation of state code. He did not respond to a request for comment about this.

David, who said he has volunteered for the board since it started in the 1970s, works for a nonprofit based in Kincaid.

The utility replaced one of three filters in August, after more and more customers began to complain about the color of the water.

David said problems then were due to nearby coal mining. The Fayette County Commission sued the Seminole West Virginia mining complex in March 2019, as the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported in October, but engineers hired by Seminole and an attorney for the commission couldn’t back these claims.

David says that since then the water has been clean. When the utility issued a boil water advisory over Memorial Day weekend, David said it was because of alleged vandalism and theft.

The advisory was lifted the following week.

Fayette County commissioner Scalph has said water problems have been going on longer than David acknowledges.

“I do think it’s unfortunate that we have failing systems,” she said. “And it’s not just Fayette County, it’s throughout the state and it’s throughout the country. The infrastructure is just old and antiquated.”

Following the Public Service Commission’s announcement that it would investigate Page-Kincaid, county commissioners in an emergency meeting June 5 sought to remove the entire three-person board through filed petitions in circuit court.

Shockey works for the prosecutor’s office, which is filing petitions for the board members’ removal. But she said she is not involved in any matters related to Page-Kincaid board.

West Virginia American Water might still be able to take over the service area. Gov. Jim Justice signed a bill from the state Senate on March 25 that would give the Public Service Commission the authority to assist and order the acquisition of failing water utilities and sewer systems.

The customers are requesting a takeover, according to the Public Service Commission.

In a May 20 order announcing the investigation, the agency said it’s “imperative that Page-Kincaid move quickly to develop a plan to improve the quality of water and water service provided to Page-Kincaid customers.”

Advocates for clean water, including director Angie Rossier with the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, says the need for clean water is heightened during a pandemic.

“All of the important guidelines we’re hearing about, for hygiene and hand washing, I mean, those concerns elevate even more so,” Rossier said. “Because if we don’t have access to safe water to keep up with hygiene and washing our hands, we’re not only just in trouble because the water may be harmful to us, but we’re not able to protect ourselves like we should be able to from a virus like COVID-19.”

A status conference is set for July 16 in Charleston. Due to the pandemic, the Public Service Commission is not accepting oral complaints, but will livestream the meeting for the public.

The PSC says it will consider complaints filed online, or mailed to the PSC’s Executive Secretary Connie Graley at 201 Brooks Street in Charleston, WV, 25301.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

Hundreds Of Fayette County Residents Under Indefinite Boil Advisory

The West Virginia Public Service Commission has opened a general investigation into the quality of water service provided by the Page-Kincaid Public Service District in Fayette County.

As of May 18th, the entire service district is under a boil water advisory for an unspecified amount of time. It serves more than 600 Fayette County customers.

In an evening statement on Wednesday, May 20th, chairwoman Charlotte Lane said the commission has received a petition with about 400 signatures, complaining about poor service and high rates.

“Many of those residents specifically requested the water system be taken over by a responsible utility,” Lane said. “The commission had been promised that these problems were being resolved.”

In June 2019, Page-Kincaid applied through the public service commission to rehabilitate the Fayette County treatment plant, which would have amounted to a potential 10 percent increase in customers’ rates. The intent of the $3 million project was to install three new water filters and upgrade dilapidated infrastructure, partly in response to a deterioration in water quality in 2018, including high levels of iron, manganese and aluminum.

Upon negotiations with West Virginia American Water [WVAW] in the fall of 2019, the commission granted Page-Kincaid’s withdrawal of its application with the understanding that an alternative plan would come to fruition, such as an acquisition by WVAW.

After Page-Kincaid rejected WVAW’s proposals in early 2020, rehabilitation of the treatment plant did not make substantial process.

Aside from the general investigation, the West Virginia Public Service Commission will require Page-Kincaid to provide requested acquisition information to WVAW.

“The boil water advisory heightens the necessity to explore all available alternatives,” according to the commission’s petition. “It is imperative that Page-Kincaid move quickly to develop a plan to improve the quality of water and water service provided to Page-Kincaid customers.

The petition also requested that a “responsible” utility take over the Page-Kincaid provider.

Now that the commission has declared a general investigation, it will host a status conference at the Public Service Commission’s main room in Charleston on July 16 at 9:30 a.m.