West Virginia Rivers Coalition Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

EPA Proposes Settlement In Guyandotte Watershed Pollution Lawsuit

The EPA’s proposed consent decree would settle a lawsuit filed this month by environmental groups in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a settlement to a federal lawsuit over water pollution from coal mining.

The EPA’s proposed consent decree would settle a lawsuit filed this month by environmental groups in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

It establishes total daily maximum loads for ionic toxicity in the lower Guyandotte watershed.

Ionic toxicity, dissolved mineral salts that result from surface mining, can impair aquatic life.

The West Virginia Rivers Coalition, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Sierra club filed the lawsuit on March 18. It named Adam Ortiz, the EPA Region 3 Administrator, as a defendant.

The proposed settlement was published in the Federal Register on Friday. The public has until April 29 to submit comments.

PFAS Concerns Loom Over Chemours Permit For Washington Works

Chemours applied in January for a permit to discharge treated wastewater from its Washington Works plant in Wood County.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is accepting public comment on a permit one group says would allow the discharge of PFAS into the Ohio River.

Chemours applied in January for a permit to discharge treated wastewater from its Washington Works plant in Wood County.

The West Virginia Rivers Coalition says this would result in the release of PFAS, or forever chemicals, into the Ohio River.

The DEP held a virtual public comment hearing on the permit on March 4. The comment period closes next week, on March 14.

In December, Chemours agreed to sample and test soil, surface water, groundwater and waste streams around the Washington Works plant for the presence of PFAS.

The plant has been in operation since 1951, and according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has manufactured products containing PFAS and has released PFAS in its operations.

According to Chris Hickey, a regional communications manager for Chemours, Washington Works is the only U.S. facility that manufactures Teflon PFA, a type of PFAS.

Teflon PFA is in high demand to make semiconductors, Hickey said, because of the federal CHIPS Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden.

“To construct and operationalize additional PFA supply capacity, and with strong support throughout our value chain, we applied for a permit modification through the WV Department of Environmental Protection,” Hickey said. “We worked cooperatively with WV DEP through its process, which included agency evaluation of the permit application and engagement with regional EPA officials.”

In addition, Hickey said, the Washington Works makes materials used in electric vehicles and charging stations, also in high demand because of the national effort to electrify transportation.

“The world depends on our products, and we are committed to manufacturing these essential chemistries responsibly,” he said.

Chemours Seeks DEP Permission For Tenant To Discharge Chemicals

A chemical company in eastern Kanawha County wants to discharge toxic chemicals into the Kanawha River, and an environmental group is pushing back.

Chemours is seeking a consent order from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for its tenant, Optima Belle, to discharge ethylbenzene and cyclohexane into the river.

Both are possible carcinogens. According to the consent order, 3,000 gallons of wastewater containing the chemicals would be treated before their release.

The West Virginia Rivers Coalition says the amount of ethylbenzene is six times higher than the human health criteria set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Optima Belle is currently not permitted to discharge either chemical.

Sunday, Feb. 25, is the deadline to submit public comment to the DEP.

Last year, the department approved an air quality permit for Optima Belle to resume a chemical drying process that killed a worker in a 2020 explosion.

A Chemical Safety Board investigation concluded that the company used an incorrect process for drying a chemical compound that when overheated, could cause a reaction that exceeded the design pressure of the dryer unit.

The worker, John Gillenwater of Putnam County, died in the blast. Three others were injured.

This story has been updated to clarify that Chemours owns the facility and Optima Belle is a tenant.

Groups Push Back On House Bill To Limit Use Of Air Monitoring Data

West Virginia’s industrial and mining trade groups support the bill, but most people spoke in opposition.

Community and environmental groups testified Friday morning in a public hearing against House Bill 5018.

The bill would limit how community air monitoring data could be used in court cases or to affect regulations. West Virginia’s industrial and mining trade groups support the bill, but most people spoke in opposition.

Bill Bissett, president of the West Virginia Manufacturers Association, compared the situation to a citizen who bought a radar gun to monitor speeding drivers in the neighborhood. Only police can enforce the law, not the citizen.

“We are in no way against community monitoring, but also do not believe that environmental activist groups should become regulatory agencies,” he said. “It is important to recognize that this bill, House Bill 5018, does not stop community air monitoring. Community air monitoring has occurred in the past and it will continue into the future.”

Angie Rosser, executive director of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, noted, as many other speakers did, that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has a limited number of its own air monitors statewide. The DEP needs citizen input, Rosser said.

“DEP’s resources are limited, they have 18 ambient air quality monitor data across the state,” she said. “This leaves large gaps and information and data and that’s, as it’s been said, where community monitors play an important role in providing information where people live. The legislature and industry should be embracing community efforts.”

Pam Nixon, president of People Concerned About Chemical Safety, said residents use devices called purple air monitors to measure industrial pollution in their communities. Nixon is a former resident of Institute, a Black-majority town where poor air quality has been an issue for decades.

“Low-income communities and communities of color are already vulnerable due to proximity to polluting industries emitting fine particles, which include chemical plants, coal fired power plants, fossil fuel drilling sites for oil and gas mining sites, diesel fuel trucking companies, and asphalt and concrete plants to name a few,” she said.

An attempt by House Democrats to amend the bill failed on Friday. It now goes to third reading.

More Than 300 Streams Missing From State’s Polluted List, EPA Says

The EPA has identified 346 streams in West Virginia that don’t meet water quality standards under the Clean Water Act, totaling 1,600 miles.

More than 300 streams are missing from a state database of polluted waterways.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified 346 streams in West Virginia that don’t meet water quality standards under the federal Clean Water Act, totaling 1,600 miles.

They are missing from a list the Department of Environmental Quality must submit every two years to the EPA.

They include portions of the Guyandotte, Elk, Gauley, Big Coal, Little Kanawha, Tug Fork, Tygart and South Branch Potomac rivers, as well as Davis Creek near Charleston.

According to the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, the DEP uses an outdated methodology to measure biological impairment in rivers and streams.

The EPA is taking public comment on the issue through Oct. 18.

Shepherdstown’s Byrd Center Hosts Panel On Forever Chemical Regulation

These chemicals are called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, more commonly known as PFAS. Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties are considered one of the PFAS “hot zones,” with unsafe levels found in 21 raw water supplies in these areas.

Advocates held a community forum in Shepherdstown Wednesday to discuss potential action to regulate harmful “forever chemicals.”

Statewide, PFAS chemicals have been found in 130 water supplies, with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Health and Human Resources currently testing the state’s treated water systems as well.

Panelists, including West Virginia Rivers Coalition scientist Jenna Dodson, explained what that meant to concerned citizens.

“They’re in our waterways, it’s in our soil, it’s in our air because it also travels via air deposition,” Dodson said. “And so that’s why they’re so ubiquitous and again, localized contamination can occur.”

PFAS have been used to manufacture industrial products, like firefighting foam, as well as consumer products.

“Things that you would have around the household, like nonstick cookware and any water resistant outdoor jackets you might have, food packaging and popcorn bags and carpet and Scotchgard and all these different kinds of products,” Dodson said. “And so these products end up in landfills, many of them can have leachate that gets into the groundwater and percolates through the soil.”

Legislators introduced a bill in the state Senate Thursday that would see manufacturers self-report their usage of PFAS. It was sent to the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee for discussion. A similar bill is set to be introduced in the House of Delegates.