The West Virginia Department of Environment Protection (WVDEP) cited Danish stone wool manufacturer Rockwool for failing to report the formation of a sinkhole and other problems at a construction site in Ranson, W.Va.
Rockwool’s failure to alert WVDEP of “noncompliance” with the conditions of its stormwater permit “may have endangered health or the environment,” according to the Notice of Violation from the state agency.
Rockwool intends to construct a 460,000-sq. ft. factory on a 130-acre site to manufacture MMVF—often called stone wool or mineral wool—for use in insulation products and fire-resistant ceiling tiles.
A firestorm erupted in Jefferson County in July when it became widely known that zoning laws had been manipulated to locate heavy industry in the midst of a residential area–a stone’s throw from an elementary school–without public comment.
The promise of 150 jobs and $100 million of capital investment by Rockwool has not soothed anxieties about the potential impacts of the plant’s air emissions and wastewater disposal.
To Jefferson County Vision, a group which formed to oppose the Rockwool factory, the fact that the company has fallen short of meeting WVDEP requirements to control erosion and contain sediment so soon after starting site preparation justifies their concerns.
“It is alarming that Rockwool doesn’t even have a building permit and is already violating rules designed to protect our health and the environment,” JCV board member Megan Hartlove said in a statement. “Remember, these stormwater violations are occurring within a few thousand feet of North Jefferson Elementary which relies on a groundwater well for its drinking water.”
WVDEP conducted an inspection of the Rockwool construction site on September 11. The WVDEP inspector was informed that during a “routine inspection” a sinkhole was found in a sediment basin. Mitigation efforts were already underway. Rockwool was cited for failing to call a WVDEP toll-free number to report “noncompliance” prior to the inspection.
The inspector also noted that he observed sediment deposits on the rock outlet protection, but, “sediment-laden water did not leave the LOD [limits of disturbance] site.”
Rockwool responded to the violations in a public statement. “It is common for construction sites to need to make improvements based on DEP inspections,” the statement says. The company is complying with WVDEP requirements “to upgrade and repair a handful of controls for minimizing erosion and sedimentation on the construction site.”
Sinkholes are a regular feature in Jefferson County and surrounding areas, indicative of the region’s porous underground geology, known as karst. Sinkholes increase the risk of groundwater contamination, Rockwool opponents point out. The Rockwool site is located close to the area of highest density of sinkholes in the region–a “sinkhole hotspot.”
“Groundwater contamination is the real story,” Certified Internal Auditor and Rockwool opponent Beverly Ross writes in a report she compiled on Rockwool’s potential health impacts. “A spill or leaking sewer line would be a health and safety nightmare as the material can move underground very rapidly, be difficult to track, and almost impossible to clean up.”
Dye tests have shown that groundwater flows freely in Jefferson County due to its karst geology and can travel up to 840 feet per day.
“Rockwool produces tons of wastewater during the manufacturing process that needs to be processed,” Ross writes. She further notes that the Rockwool factory location at Jefferson Orchard is positioned at the headwaters of many county streams. It’s also in the area of the highest concentration of sinkholes in the region.
The furnaces used to melt igneous rock to 2,700° F require coal, pet coke and natural gas for fuel. Storage of coal and its waste product coal ash might be a source of poisonous water contamination, opponents fear, especially due to the sinkholes and porous karst geology. Sinkholes might also pose a problem for transporting natural gas to the Rockwool factory.
Tracy Cannon of Eastern Panhandle Protectors describes how a sinkhole could put a catastrophic accident into motion. “If a sinkhole opens up below a buried pipeline, the pipeline no longer has support from underneath,” she explains. “If the pipeline lacks support, it could begin to sag. If it sags a lot, a weld could fail. If a weld fails, and the two ends are no longer attached, they could rub against each other, causing a spark. In the presence of gas, a spark can cause a large fire or an explosion.”
The Mountaineer Gas Pipeline is currently under construction in Berkeley and Morgan Counties to the north of Ranson. An extension through Jefferson County would supply Rockwool. The pipeline to the Ranson factory, according to a map provided by Mountaineer Gas, would be laid underneath a bike path between a major roadway and a railroad track. The West Virginia Public Service Commission has yet to grant a permit for the extension to Rockwool. Decisions on the issuance of sewer and water bonds are also pending in local government bodies.
