On this West Virginia Week, we’ll look back at an explosion at a fracking site. We’ll talk about a couple different things happening in the courts this past week, including a mistrial. And we’ll hear some good news about the decline in overdoses in the state.
We’ll also hear from a fire safety expert about how to stay safe during the holidays. And we’ll find out what state lawmakers learned from an investigation in the foster care crisis in the state.
Briana Heaney is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.
West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caelan Bailey, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick, Maria Young and Randy Yohe.
Striking workers at the Union Carbide Plant, owned by Dow Chemical, in South Charleston, have agreed to return to work.
Approximately 77 members of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Local 598 (District 54) have voted to ratify an improved contract offer and end their strike at the employer according to a press release from the union.
On Oct. 21, the union went on strike for better wages and benefits.
“Congratulations to the membership of IAM Local 598 for standing strong for the contract they deserve,” said IAM District 54 President and Directing Business Representative T. Dean Wright Jr.
Highlights of the new contract include:
General wage increases from 15.91 percent up to 20.28 percent over the life of the agreement.
New employees will reach the top rate in 36 months or sooner.
The majority of the bargaining unit will exceed $40 per hour for their base salary, and has a defined path to making top rate or certification.
15 percent of total yearly salary contribution to 401(k) savings plan.
Contributions to FSA dependent care reimbursement account.
Courtland is appealing a late September decision by U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. to impose a $200,000 civil penalty against Union Carbide for violating the Clean Water Act.
A real-estate company has appealed a federal judge’s ruling in a case against Union Carbide.
The Courtland Company, which owns property in South Charleston adjacent to a closed Union Carbide landfill, filed an appeal Friday with the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia.
Instead, Copenhaver allowed Union Carbide to continue with a voluntary remediation of the site it had initiated with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.
In a statement, Union Carbide said the company “is confident the court correctly rejected The Courtland Company, Inc.’s demands for excessive penalties and excessive remedial efforts.” It added that the Filmont remediation work continues.
The appeal continues a legal saga that began in 2018 when Courtland first sued Union Carbide.
The Fourth Circuit is regarded as more sympathetic to environmental concerns than other courts. It struck down multiple permits for the contested Mountain Valley Pipeline before Congress removed those cases from its jurisdiction.
Copenhaver, 99, is one of the last sitting federal judges appointed by President Gerald Ford.
Nearly 80 employees at a Kanawha County chemical plant have gone on strike over pay and benefits concerns.
Updated on Wednesday, October 23 at 10:10 a.m.
Nearly 80 employees at a Kanawha County chemical plant have gone on strike over pay and benefits concerns.
Workers at the South Charleston Manufacturing Site Plant voted to strike Monday, according to a press release from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). The South Charleston-based IAM Local 598 chapter represents workers on site.
The chemical plant is operated by Union Carbide Corporation, a subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide was obtained by the multinational corporation in 2001, according to its website.
The union members’ previous contracts expired Sunday. Then, 77 IAM members began striking “to secure fair wages and protect their right to holidays and vacations as part of their benefits package,” according to a Monday statement from IAM District 54 President and Directing Business Representative T. Dean Wright Jr.
Wright’s district represents members in Ohio, West Virginia and northeastern Indiana. IAM represents roughly 600,000 members across different industries nationally, according to the union’s website.
Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 598 chapter continued their strike in South Charleston Tuesday.
Photo Credit: Emily Rice/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
“Our members working at Dow Chemical perform dangerous jobs that demand appropriate compensation and respect for their labor,” Wright continued in a Monday IAM press release. “They are simply asking for what is fair — recognition of the value they bring to the company.”
A media representative from Union Carbide wrote in an email to West Virginia Public Broadcasting that the company is actively meeting with union representatives “to conduct a productive and fair negotiation.”
“We are committed to continuing these discussions in good faith and are hopeful that we will reach a resolution soon,” they wrote. “Union Carbide Corporation remains committed to offering a competitive total rewards package, which includes fair wages and adequate holiday and vacation days. Our goal in these negotiations has always been to reach a mutually beneficial agreement that supports both our employees’ well-being and the company’s operational needs.”
Meanwhile, the representative said Union Carbide is “confident” it will be able to continue safely operating the site during the strike.
Representatives from Dow Chemical did not respond to phone call or email requests for comment from West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
IAM and its local South Charleston chapter also did not respond to email or phone call requests for further comment. Strikers at the South Charleston facility declined to provide a comment to West Virginia Public Broadcasting Tuesday.
Emily Rice contributed reporting to this story.
**Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include a written statement from Union Carbide Corporation, which was emailed to West Virginia Public Broadcasting after publication on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. Emily Rice is our host this week.
On this West Virginia Week, we start with the legislature’s second special session of the year. The Governor’s original call for this special session prioritized childcare tax credits and cutting the income tax by 5 percent, but once lawmakers gaveled in, discussions quickly devolved.
Statehouse Reporter, Caelan Bailey will tell us about one measure on nuclear regulations that passed with the smallest margin of 73 yeas out of 91 votes cast.
Plus, we’ll hear about the devastation in the southeast from Hurricane Helene and how West Virginia’s National Guard will help recovery efforts.
Also, a ballot amendment could decide the fate of medically assisted suicide in West Virginia this November, a possible transition from coal power to natural gas and a community pushes back against a new city ordinance.
Emily Rice is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.
West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caelan Bailey, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick, Randy Yohe and Maria Young.
Union Carbide will pay a $200,000 civil penalty for violating the Clean Water Act, U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. ruled on Friday.
Union Carbide will pay a $200,000 civil penalty for violating the Clean Water Act, U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. ruled on Friday.
That’s far less than the hundreds of millions of dollars the Courtland Company sought for a Union Carbide landfill’s impact on waterways in South Charleston.
Courtland sued Union Carbide first in 2018 over contamination on its South Charleston property, which is adjacent to Union Carbide’s Filmont landfill.
Copenhaver ordered Union Carbide to apply for stormwater discharge permits within six months and to continue a voluntary remediation it began with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.
“Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) is pleased with the court’s decision, which fully rejected The Courtland Company, Inc.’s demands for excessive penalties and remedial efforts,” the company said in a statement.
Courtland proposed a permanent injunction that appoints a remediation project manager, Marc Glass of Downstream Strategies, an environmental consulting firm. Copenhaver ruled there was no need for the injunction and that the existing remedial plan was sufficient.
Union Carbide is a subsidiary of Dow Chemical. It operated the Filmont site for nearly three decades.
Last year, Copenhaver ruled the site as an open dump under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and that Union Carbide failed to apply for the stormwater discharge permits required for the facility under the Clean Water Act.
Courtland had pushed for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to supervise the cleanup under the Superfund Program.
The story has been updated to clarify that Courtland proposed the permanent injunction and the appointment of a remediation project manager.
