Daniel B. Purinton died in Morgantown on November 27, 1933. A native of Preston County, he was one of West Virginia University’s early graduates. He earned a bachelor of arts from the school in 1873 and a master of arts in 1876. He later received a doctorate from the University of Nashville. He was a professor at WVU for 16 years, beginning in the Preparatory Department.
Tag: Preston County
Nov. 13 1879 Arthurdale Educator Elsie Clapp Born
Educator Elsie Clapp was born on November 13, 1879, in Brooklyn Heights. She was influenced by progressive educator John Dewey, who believed that schools should have a direct impact on the communities they serve. In 1934, Clapp brought this philosophy with her to West Virginia as director of the community school at Arthurdale. The Preston County town was the first of the nation’s New Deal subsistence homesteads.
Feds Award Grant to Improve Cheat River Access
The federal government has awarded a $24,000 grant to improve access to the Cheat River in Preston County.
Friends of the Cheat executive director Amanda Pitzer tells The Dominion Post that the funding will be used to design and build a river access at a railroad trestle in Rowlesburg.
Pitzer says the project is expected to be completed in about two years.
The river access will be part of the 40-mile Upper Cheat Water Trail. The trail runs between Rowlesburg and Hendricks in Tucker County.
The grant from the Federal Highway Administration was awarded through the state Division of Highways’ Transportation Alternatives Recreation Trail program.
Energy Corporation of America Won't Pursue UIC Project In Preston Co.
Energy Corporation of America says they won’t be planning to put an underground injection well in Preston County, following months of investigation into the project by the company.
ECA was looking to turn an old natural gas well near Masontown into a Class II Underground Injection Well. That would have essentially taken water from hydraulic fracturing processes and injected it in the ground there.
“In the end, our exploration simply concluded this well is not a good candidate for conversion to a Class II injection well at this time,” said ECA spokewoman Jennifer Viewig.
The proposal was met with criticism from the Friends of Decker’s Creek watershed organization. The Friends of Deckers Creek said the proposal would have done harm to the watershed.
ECA spent nearly a year in the investigation stage.
Energy Corporation of America Still Gathering Information on Possible Injection Well
Energy Corporation of America still hasn’t decided whether to turn one of its former gas wells in northern West Virginia into an underground injection well.
ECA is thinking about putting an underground injection well in Preston County, near Decker’s Creek. The company is still investigating this proposal and hasn’t come to a conclusion about what it will do.
This possibility has upset many recreationists who use and want to preserve the Decker’s Creek Watershed. Earlier this year, the Friends of Decker’s Creek held a public meeting about the proposal. The group’s executive director, Elizabeth Wiles, says it would harm the watershed, which is bouncing back from years of acid mine drainage problems.
“We have implemented a number of water quality improvement projects that have shown water quality is improving, fish populations are coming back, especially in the areas upstream of where this well would be located,” said Wiles earlier this year.
If ECA decides to go through with the project, it would be establishing a Class Two injection well, which basically takes brine water and fluids from natural gas drilling operations and injects the waste into the ground.