Parkersburg Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Chemours Will Sample For PFAS At Washington Works Site, EPA Says

The EPA says the Chemours Company will sample soil, surface water, sediment and groundwater for PFAS at its Washington Works site near Parkersburg.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached an agreement with a chemical company to sample for “forever chemicals” at a Wood County site.

The EPA says the Chemours Company will sample soil, surface water, sediment and groundwater for PFAS at its Washington Works site near Parkersburg.

The EPA, along with officials in Ohio and West Virginia, want to determine the extent of PFAS contamination at the site. PFAS have been produced and released there since 1951, according to the agency. The facility remains in operation.

The 1,200 acre site along the Ohio River also includes volatile organic compounds.

PFAS break down very slowly over time and have been scientifically proven to harm people and animals, the EPA says. Yet they are present in food products, water, air and soil and even in the blood of people and animals.

Products made with PFAS include firefighting foam and nonstick cookware.

EPA Orders Chemours To Address PFAS In Parkersburg Water Discharge

The EPA has ordered Chemours to address PFAS contamination in stormwater discharge from the Washington Works facility near Parkersburg.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken enforcement action on a company for discharging “forever chemicals.”

The EPA has ordered Chemours to address PFAS contamination in stormwater discharge from the Washington Works facility near Parkersburg.

PFAS, known as “forever chemicals,” are manmade chemicals used in an array of industrial processes and consumer products. They linger in the environment and pose a risk to human health.

The Washington Works facility discharges industrial process water and stormwater into the Ohio River and its tributaries, according to a 2018 permit it received under the Clean Water Act.

According to the EPA, the amount of PFAS in the water discharged from the facility exceeds the limits allowed by the permit.

Water can be treated to remove PFAS. The EPA’s order requires Chemours to do that, as well as to monitor the discharge water to further understand the presence of PFAS in it.

This is the EPA’s first enforcement action involving PFAS. The Washington Works facility was formerly operated by DuPont.

W.Va. City Council Ordered To Stop Reciting The Lord's Prayer

A West Virginia city was ordered Tuesday to stop opening its council meetings with The Lord’s Prayer.

U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. ruled that Parkersburg City Council’s practice of opening its meetings with the New Testament prayer violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits government from favoring one religion over others.

The judge issued a permanent injunction against the prayer recital and awarded $1 in damages to each plaintiff.

Copenhaver ruled in a lawsuit filed by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. The Madison, Wisconsin-based group and two of its members sued the city in 2018.

The judge issued a permanent injunction against the prayer recital and awarded $1 in damages to each plaintiff.

The lawsuit said residents stood at each Parkersburg City Council meeting to recite the prayer with council members. Plaintiffs Daryl Cobranchi and Eric Engle of Parkersburg attended some meetings, remained seated and did not participate in the prayer’s recital.

FedEx Ground Distribution Center Planned In Parkersburg

Construction is expected to begin Monday on a FedEx Ground distribution center in south Parkersburg, West Virginia, according to a published report.

A 250,000-square-foot facility is planned to be operational at the site in 2022, The Parkersburg News and Sentinel reported.

It will employ a mix of full- and part-time workers and also will contract for package pickup and delivery services, FedEx Ground spokesman David Westrick told the newspaper.

The company is working to optimize its capacity to meet increasing demand as e-commerce grows, Westrick said.

“The site was chosen because of its ease of access to major highways, proximity to customers’ distribution centers and a strong local community workforce for recruiting employees,” he said.

August 6, 1864: Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary Arrive in Parkersburg

On August 6, 1864, a colony of eight Catholic nuns wound up their long treacherous wartime trek from Washington, D.C., to Parkersburg. The Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary established a teaching order in Parkersburg and, in 1867, founded a school for poor children.

In 1900, they took possession of a new home and school located on the outskirts of Parkersburg. They named the large red-and-brick monastery DeSales Heights, in honor of St. Francis DeSales. Their former school building became home to St. Joseph’s Hospital.

For the next 75 years, the sisters ran a boarding school for young women at DeSales Heights. In its heyday, it was considered one of the finest Catholic schools for young women in the country. And in the 1970s, the sisters introduced West Virginia’s first Montessori courses. Declining enrollment eventually took its toll, and the massive school building became too costly to maintain. In 1992, DeSales Heights closed its doors, ending a nearly 130-year run in one form or another. The building was put up for sale. After vandalism and a fire, the DeSales Heights building was demolished in 2002.

July 24, 1823: West Virginia Governor Arthur Boreman Born in Pennsylvania

West Virginia Governor Arthur Boreman was born in Pennsylvania on July 24, 1823. When he was young, his family moved to Tyler County. And then, in 1845, Boreman relocated to Parkersburg, which would be his hometown for the rest of his life.

Boreman was elected to the state General Assembly in 1855 and served until Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861 at the start of the Civil War. In June, he was chosen president of the Second Wheeling Convention. Delegates to the convention established a Virginia state government loyal to the Union. This government would later approve West Virginia’s entrance into the Union.

In 1863, Boreman was elected unopposed to serve as West Virginia’s first governor. During much of his first two years, he was consumed with steering the new state through the Civil War. He also pushed for a public education system that would serve all children regardless of family income.

In 1869, he entered the U.S. Senate, where he fought to ratify the 15^th Amendment to the Constitution, giving blacks the right to vote. Arthur Boreman died in Parkersburg in 1896 at age 72.