Pocahontas PSD Picks Site for Regional Sewage Plant

By Geoff Hamill, For The Inter-Mountain

In the hot, cramped office of the Durbin water works, the Pocahontas County Public Service District voted to use Site Seven, on Snowshoe Mountain Resort property, for the Slaty Fork Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Site Seven is at the base of Cheat Mountain, on Snowshoe property, and is not located on karst terrain, porous limestone formations especially vulnerable to water pollution. The resort had originally selected the site for its own sewage treatment plant before being ordered by the West Virginia Public Service Commission to cooperate in a regional effort.

After receiving several public comments, the board acted on site selection for the plant.

PSD Secretary Scott Millican's motion for selection of Site Five at the former Rail Authority property died for lack of a second.

The other board members stated their preference for Site Seven.

"After looking these areas over, I think Site Seven would be most reasonable," PSD board member Bill Rexrode said.

PSD President Mark Smith concurred.

"In talking to the engineers, I have to agree with Bill. I can't get behind Site Five. The thing that bothers me about it is the five miles of pipeline going down to it," Smith said.

His statement drew applause from several people in the crowd.

Millican stated his concern that developments in the valley would have to use a pressurized line to utilize a sewage treatment plant at Site Seven, which he said would increase the danger to the environment.

Millican's motion for Site Five died for lack of a second and Rexrode moved to approve Site Seven. The board then voted with Rexrode and Smith voting for Site Seven and Millican voting "nay."

George Phillips, of 8 Rivers Safe Development, a volunteer group of cavers, said he was pleased that Site Five was not selected.

"Site 5 presented a risk to the facility and the watershed. There's no pipeline going though the valley, which was our big concern with the voids in the karst. Site Seven is certainly less risk. I would still like the board to consider the possibility of a common plant on the mountain, using membrane technology. This avoids the pipeline off the mountain and it also allows the Elk Headwaters Association to develop their watershed plan and determine what the right solution for the valley might be," he said.

Phillips has presented alternative sewage treatment plans to both the PSD and the Pocahontas County Commission in the past, including a plan that would create two PSDs in the county, one on top of Snowshoe Mountain Resort and the other to serve valley residents along the Elk River watershed.

Snowshoe Property Owners Council president Mike Olsen was less enthusiastic.

"It's a step in the right direction, but I don't think it's a solution to the problem. The problem is multi-faceted and requires two PSDs, at least, to handle the problem. I believe, as a Snowshoe homeowner, to be asked to pay for a regional plant, that serves so few people, is a miscarriage of justice," said Olsen.

Prior to taking the critical vote, the PSD received 22 public comments.