PSD Selects Site Seven For Regional Sewage Treatment Plant

Wednesday August 06, 2008

Geoff Hamill
Staff Writer

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.

Prior to taking the critical vote, the PSD received public comments from 22 individuals, many pleading with the PSD to protect the Elk River.

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.

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 Eight 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 multifaceted 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.

In West Virginia Code Section 16-13A-1, the Legislature found, "it is in the best interest of the public for each county commission to review current technology available and consider consolidating existing public service districts where it is feasible and will not result in the interference with existing bond instruments. Further, if such consolidation is not feasible, the Legislature finds that it is in the best interest of the public for each county commission to review current technology available and consider consolidating or centralizing the management of public service districts within its county or multi-county area to achieve efficiency of operations."

During the public comment period, several people pleaded with the PSD to protect the Elk River

"I have a camp down here on the Elk River. It is a place I have come to love. We have people that want to be dealt with in a fair manner. Deal with us in a fair manner and keep everything above board. That river down there means a lot to a lot of people. Some people, it might not mean a thing to them, but to a lot of people it's a way of life, and that's all they want to be observed here tonight. Give them a fair deal and treat them like they deserve to be treated."

"In just the last couple months, I've guided people from Atlanta, Detroit, Cincinatti. I've met people fishing from Connecticut, Virginia, Pennsylvania - all over the east coast. Why are they all coming to the Elk River? Because it's one of the east coast's and nation's best trout-fishing rivers. Common sense says putting the plant on Slaty Fork makes no sense at all."

Other landowners asked the PSD to disregard special interests.

"If you don't go on the side of science - if you don't evaluate things in accordance with accepted principles and standards, you are making a serious mistake in a project like this."