U.S. Coast Guard Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Expected Layoffs To Hit Eastern Panhandle Coast Guard Center

Layoffs are expected to affect 110 workers at a Coast Guard operations center in the Eastern Panhandle.

The layoffs would affect workers at Guidehouse Digital LLC, a Virginia-based consulting company headquartered in nearby McLean. They currently employ workers under contract with the Coast Guard center in Kearneysville.

The Operations Systems Center keeps track of Coast Guard data across four buildings in Jefferson County. It had 600 employees as of its opening in 2014.

According to a public notice provided to West Virginia WorkForce, the contract expires and layoffs are expected to happen March 31. The notice was sent Jan. 30, with employees being notified that day as well.

The notice says options could extend the contract through the end of June, but those options were not extended at the time the notice was sent. It also mentions the employees on the contract are non-union, and that they do not have bumping rights, which are granted to senior employees to replace workers with less seniority whose jobs had not been affected.

Guidehouse could not be reached for comment prior to this story’s publication.

Barge Breakaway Reported on Ohio River Near Huntington

The Coast Guard says the Racine Lock and Dam on the Ohio River near Huntington is closed after a barge breakaway.

No injuries or spills were reported.

The Coast Guard said in a news release Thursday that a tug was pushing three barges loaded with more than 3.7 million gallon of natural gas condensate when it hit the lock wall around 5:30 a.m. The release said the barges broke away.

The lock and dam is closed, and the Coast Guard said it left a queue of 13 vessels that are upbound and 11 downbound.

The release said one barge is contained in the lock, and the other two and the vessel are pinned against dam gates.

The Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers and Settoon Towing Co. set up a command for the incident.

W.Va. Coast Guard Member Pleads Guilty to Faking Own Death

A West Virginia man has pleaded guilty to faking his death to desert from the U.S. Coast Guard.

U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II says 33-year-old Larry C. Shelby of Martinsburg abandoned his vehicle and wrote suicide notes in 2013. Shelby then concealed his identity and isolated himself in a remote cabin.

Ihlenfeld says that Shelby’s wife, 33-year-old Karen Shelby, conspired with the non-commissioned officer in the plot. Karen Shelby told authorities that Larry Selby was missing. Karen Selby pleaded guilty Wednesday to making a false statement..

Ihlenfeld says the Coast Guard spent more than $100,000 searching for Larry Selby. Larry Selby faces up to six years in prison at sentencing.

Man Charged with Faking Death to Desert Coast Guard

A West Virginia man has been charged with faking his death to desert from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Ihlenfeld said Wednesday that Shelby’s wife, 33-year-old Karen Shelby, and 32-year-old Jeffery John York of Martinsburg conspired with the non-commissioned officer in the desertion plot. Karen Shelby and York are accused of telling authorities that Larry Selby was missing.

A federal grand jury indicted all three on hoax and conspiracy charges. Karen Selby and York also are each charged with making a false statement.

Ihlenfeld says the Coast Guard spent more than $100,000 searching for Larry Selby.

Recreational Boating Deaths Decline in W.Va.

Statistics released Wednesday by the U.S. Coast Guard show three people were killed in boating accidents in 2013. That’s down from four in 2012, eight in 2011 and 2010, and 15 in 2009.

All three fatal accidents in 2013 were drownings.

Twenty people suffered nonfatal injuries in eight accidents in 2013.

There was only property damage in another five accidents.

The total number of boating accidents declined from 19 in 2012 to 16 last year.

Seven accidents were collisions. Other causes included flooding or swamping, skier mishap, capsizing and carbon monoxide.

Nationwide, 560 people were killed in recreational boating accidents in 2013.

Will fracking waste soon hit the Ohio River?

The U.S. Coast Guard is seeking public comments on a proposal that would allow barges to transport shale gas wastewater.

The waste is a byproduct of the drilling process, and it can include both man-made chemicals and naturally occurring heavy metals and radiation. The waste fluids are currently stored at drilling sites or transported by truck or train to treatment plants and deep underground injection disposal wells. The Coast Guard says some companies want to use barges instead of trucks to move the waste to disposal sites.

One such company, GreenHunter Water, recently purchased an 11-acre barge terminal site in Wheeling that sits along the Ohio River. The company is converting the former gasoline storage facility into a shale wastewater handling and storage site designed to recycle and/or dispose of gas drilling water.

Phase two of the company’s plans will use river barges to transport waste fluids to various injection disposal sites, but those plans are contingent upon the Coast Guard permitting the transport of fracking waste on inland waterways.

Some environmental groups says the comment period should be longer than 30 days and that the proposal is flawed because it doesn’t mention environmental safeguards. The Coast Guard is accepting comments until Nov. 29. The official title of the proposal is Carriage of Conditionally Permitted Shale Gas Extraction Waste Water in Bulk.