The Situation at a Glance

The proposed site is a karst floodplain.

The Pocahontas County Public Service District (PSD) is planning a project to build a regional sewage treatment plant on a site which is located on a shallow karst floodplain. The project is unsafe because karst land can collapse into caves or unknown voids located beneath the surface in the soluble limestone rock. Karst floodplains can flood due to rising underground rivers and surface flooding. Raw sewage spilled due to failure of equipment or piping will immediately enter the underground cave/stream system and contaminate wells and pollute surface trout streams. Have a look at the caves to gain a better sense of the remarkable, vast, and fragile geology that is located in the area of the proposed site. This plant is a $20 million mistake.

The project has relied on incomplete and inadequate geophysical investigation of the site and pipeline corridor. Government approval authorities have failed to conduct a proper risk analysis and environmental assessment of the project which is required by WV state code.

Eight Rivers Safe Development, Inc. has been formed to encourage safe development practices on karst land, to educate citizens about karst hazards, and to protect our natural resources—trout streams, rivers, and caves—from ill-conceived, unsafe projects.