U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Civil Penalty Of $1.4 Billion Sought In Union Carbide Landfill Case

Union Carbide has asked a federal judge to reject the proposed penalty, as well as Courtland’s proposed injunction under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

Union Carbide has asked a federal judge to reject a proposed settlement over a landfill site in South Charleston.

Courtland, a real-estate company, has proposed that Union Carbide pay a civil penalty of $1.4 billion to settle a series of lawsuits over an inactive waste disposal site.

Last year, U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. ruled that the Filmont Landfill in South Charleston was an illegal open dump under federal law and that Union Carbide violated the Clean Water Act by failing to seek a permit for the site.

Union Carbide has asked Copenhaver to reject the proposed penalty, as well as Courtland’s proposed injunction under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

That injunction would mean the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would supervise the cleanup of the site.

Union Carbide is working with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection on a voluntary remediation plan. The company says Courtland’s proposal would delay the cleanup of the site.

Union Carbide cited testimony from David Carpenter, a licensed remediation specialist, that the voluntary program under DEP could get the site remediated by the end of 2026.

Carpenter testified that Courtland’s proposed injunction would extend the process by five to eight years.

The EPA’s program, the National Contingency Plan, is meant for sites that pose an imminent danger to the public, Carpenter said, and that the Filmont Landfill was not such a site.

Union Carbide operated the landfill for about 30 years, but its existence wasn’t widely known until a 2018 lawsuit in federal court in Charleston.

A landfill that discharges stormwater into navigable U.S. waterways must seek a permit under the Clean Water Act. Filmont is adjacent to Davis Creek, a tributary of the Kanawha River.

Union Carbide is a subsidiary of Dow Chemical.

EPA Sets Lower Standards For ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Drinking Water

The EPA’s goal for public exposure to PFAS from drinking water is zero, although it will not be enforceable.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set maximum levels for “forever chemicals” in drinking water.

The EPA’s goal for public exposure to PFAS from drinking water is zero, although it will not be enforceable.

Rather, the agency wants to limit such chemicals to between 4 to 10 parts per trillion, depending on what category they belong to.

In contrast, the EPA’s 2016 guidance allowed PFAS exposure as high as 70 parts per trillion.

The EPA developed the standards based on 120,000 comments it received. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 committed $9 billion toward reducing PFAS contamination in drinking water systems.

Last year, the U.S. Geological Survey found PFAS levels above the proposed EPA standards in 19 of the state’s water systems.

Exposure to PFAS is known to cause cancer and other illnesses, and complications during pregnancy.

Mon Power’s Harrison Plant Tops EPA’s Toxic Release List Statewide

Out of 177 facilities statewide, the Mon Power Harrison Power Station ranks first on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxic Release Inventory.

A power plant in Harrison County releases more toxic material into the air than any other facility in the state, according to federal data.

Out of 177 facilities statewide, the Mon Power Harrison Power Station ranks first on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Toxic Release Inventory.

The plant is responsible for 7.4 million pounds of toxic releases into the air and water every year.

Sulfuric acid accounts for most of what the plant releases into the air, and ammonia into the water.

Hannah Catlett, a spokeswoman for Mon Power parent FirstEnergy, said the company complies with all environmental regulations.

The next four facilities on the Toxic Release Inventory are also coal-burning power plants, but all four release fewer than 3 million pounds annually.

The four are the Pleasants Power Station, now operated by Omnis Technologies; Appalachian Power’s John Amos plant; Mon Power’s Fort Martin Power Station and Dominion Power’s Mount Storm Power Station.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sulfuric acid forms when sulfur dioxide from burning coal, oil and gas reacts with water in the air.

According to a Mon Power fact sheet, the Harrison Power Station is equipped with pollution controls that remove 98 percent of sulfur dioxide from the plant’s emissions.

Us & Them Encore: Dicamba Woes

In February, a federal judge in Arizona halted the spraying of the herbicide dicamba, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says farmers are allowed to use it for this coming growing season. In this installment of Us & Them, we listen back to a story from our archives, exploring the heated conflict unraveling in agricultural communities.

There’s a nationwide rift among farmers over the use of dicamba, a popular herbicide. A 2024 federal court ruling has halted dicamba’s use, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given the green light for farmers to use existing supplies this year.

In this episode of Us & Them, we revisit a story from our archives that delves into the intense battle unfolding in farm country. Originally designed to help soybean farmers combat ‘pigweed,’ dicamba has proven controversial because it drifts from where it’s sprayed, causing harm to desirable plants. The legal fallout has reached a point where farmers and gardeners hesitate to speak out about crop or plant damage due to fear.

On the flip side, those advocating for dicamba have taken the matter to court, challenging the authority over pesticide use rules in some states. In a departure from the typical tight-knit atmosphere of rural farm communities, where issues are often resolved locally, Arkansas is experiencing an un-neighborly atmosphere, with tensions escalating.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism, the West Virginia Humanities Council and the CRC Foundation.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

Terry Fuller, former member of the Arkansas Plant Board, shows *Us & Them* host Trey Kay the place where several of his hay bales were set ablaze not long after he made public statements calling for limitation on the use of a special formulation of dicamba during the growing season. Fuller also says that two of his tractors were vandalized which caused more than $60,000 worth of damage.

*Photo Credit: Loretta Williams*

Terry Fuller, former member of the Arkansas Plant Board, displays a couple of signs that have repeatedly been posted alongside the roads near his house. One sign could be seen from his daughter’s bedroom window on Christmas Day.

*Photo Credit: Loretta Williams*

Richard Coy’s family has been in the honey producing business since the 1960s. Over the years, Coy’s Honey Farm became the largest commercial bee business in Arkansas. Coy claims dicamba has had an adverse effect on the plant life necessary for honey bees to thrive and produce honey. He says the conditions got so bad that he and his family had to move their business from Arkansas to Mississippi.

*Photo Credit: Loretta Williams*

Franklin Fogelman, a soybean farmer in Arkansas, speaking at a special session of the Arkansas Plant Board in 2019. He believes farmers like him need to be able to use dicamba during the growing season to control weeds in their fields.

*Photo Credit: Loretta Williams*

Reed Storey, a soybean and cotton farmer, opposes the use of the newer formulations of dicamba during the growing season because he believes the herbicide can harm the crops of neighboring farmers. He sees this as “big agriculture against smaller growers.”

*Photo Credit: Loretta Williams*

Charles “Bo” Sloan is the manager of the Dale Bumpers White River Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas. He says dicamba has a tendency to volatilize when the weather gets above 85 degrees. When the chemical transforms into a gas, it can drift away from its intended targets. Sloan has heard the complaints that dicamba might adversely impact agriculture, and is also worried that it might be harming the environment in some of the nation’s protected lands.

*Photo Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Check out the original Farm Wars episode the Us & Them team produced for Reveal in 2019.

State Officials Work To Ward Off Water System Cyberattacks

West Virginia officials are teaming up to bolster cybersecurity for local water and wastewater services.

In December, national security authorities identified an increase in cyberattacks targeting local water systems across the country, prompting calls to strengthen their cyber protections.

In response, officials with the Office of Environmental Health Services (OEHS) — part of the West Virginia Department of Health Bureau of Public Health — are now coordinating cyberattack prevention initiatives with local water systems across the state.

Cyberattacks can disrupt water services, steal consumer data and install dangerous software remotely. In a Tuesday press release, State Health Officer Matthew Christiansen said that the state’s renewed cybersecurity efforts can hamper threats to local water services.

“Water systems can reduce their risk by updating computer equipment regularly, using secure passwords and resetting them regularly, requiring employee training to safeguard against an attack and ensuring clean drinking water is provided to residents,” he said.

OEHS will also work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to spread awareness about the federal agency’s free cybersecurity assessments.

Through these efforts, officials said that they hope to bolster cybersecurity for local water systems across West Virginia.

AG Morrisey Takes Aim Against EPA Intrastate Water Regulations

A new rule from the EPA gives the agency more power over intrastate bodies of water, but Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is calling it federal overreach.

A new rule from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gives the agency more power over intrastate bodies of water, but Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is calling it federal overreach.

The rule defines waters protected under the Clean Water Act. It expands the EPA’s authority over intrastate bodies of water like lakes, ponds, streams and wetlands.

The rule’s text says it “ensures critical protections for the nation’s vital resources, which support public health, environmental protection, agricultural activity and economic growth.”

Morrisey called the rule federal overreach during a press conference Thursday afternoon, arguing it takes jurisdiction away from states and would negatively affect economic and job growth, and that smaller bodies of water should be regulated differently than larger rivers. He says it could affect farmers, developers or other property owners who want to utilize waterways on their land.

“When you look at the way the rule is structured, we are very concerned once again, that this is targeting ephemeral streams, or even your backyard ditch,” Morrisey said.

The rule, formally titled “Revised Definition of ‘Waters of the United States,” is set to replace a rule put in place by the Trump administration called the “Navigable Waters Protection Rule,” which reduced the number of wetlands protected by the Clean Water Act on a federal level.

The rule is set to go into effect March 20, sixty days after its original publication in the federal register. The lawsuit is set to be filed in North Dakota, with West Virginia joining 23 other states.