WVDEP Approval of Rockwool Gas Pipeline Permit Made in ‘Bad Faith,’ Opponents Say

The West Virginia Department of Environment (WVDEP) on Friday issued the final permit necessary for Mountaineer Gas to build a gas pipeline to service the Rockwool factory in Jefferson County, ignoring repeated requests to reschedule a public hearing on the matter. The decision was reportedly made at the highest levels of the agency.

The pipeline is a 4.85-mile extension of the Mountaineer Gas trunk line, which is nearly finished with construction. The extension would run from the Martinsburg area to the Rockwool plant site.

The approval of the stormwater construction permit came as a surprise to those who have been in contact with WVDEP about the pipeline, including West Virginia state delegate John Doyle. Doyle and fellow Jefferson County representative Sammi Brown have been in close contact with WVDEP officials over the last week, trying to arrange a public hearing. A public meeting with slightly different rules had been offered instead of a hearing, Doyle said.

Yesterday, General Counsel Jason Wandling informed them that WVDEP had made a decision not to hold a public hearing or meeting. This morning, however, Wandling notified Doyle that DEP Secretary Austin Caperton himself had already approved the permit on Friday.

Caperton is a former coal industry executive who on appointment promised to strike a balance between environmental protection and eliminating red tape detrimental to business.

Doyle had also addressed rumors about security concerns with WVDEP Deputy Secretary Scott Mandirola and the Governor’s General Counsel Brian Abraham. “They had been told that Ranson could not guarantee security,” Doyle said.

“He heard that it came from the City of Ranson,” he said, referring to General Counsel Abraham.

Delegate Doyle said he did not believe that the WVDEP had been transparent with him or fair to his constituents. “Del. Brown and I told them this afternoon that we found the decision unacceptable,” he said, but he doesn’t believe that there is any further action he can take. Individuals can appeal the decision, he said.

Officials at WVDEP were not available for comment at time of publication.

Tracy Cannon of Eastern Panhandle Protectors, which has strongly advocated for a public hearing on the pipeline extension, said the approval was “an utter betrayal of trust” and “an outrageous display of bad faith towards the people of our area” when their elected officials were in the process of negotiating with WVDEP officials.

The pipeline extension has been approved by the Public Service Commission and the WVDEP in spite of the fact that there is no source of gas. The Potomac Pipeline was supposed to be the transmission line transporting fracked gas from Fulton County, Pa. to Morgan Co., W.Va., but the Maryland Public Service Commission denied an easement through public lands in January, effectively killing the pipeline unless Columbia Gas is successful in a legal appeal.

If other sources of gas are found, the pipeline would serve the planned Rockwool factory at the Jefferson Orchards site, which has been undergoing site preparation for several months. A large number of community members object to the plant due to its 21-story smokestacks, voluminous polluting emissions near schoolchildren, residents and medical patients, and the potential for groundwater contamination.

A group opposing the Rockwool plant objects to the gas pipeline running extremely close, and possibly through, a cemetery in the old Jefferson Orchard, immediately adjoining the Rockwool site. In a letter to the West Virginia State Historical Society, Jefferson County Vision says that with the construction of the pipeline will destroy a historic cemetery and disturb human remains. Changes to the borders of the cemetery from the original deed have been made, JCV says.

Four WWII veterans of the West Virginia “Black Army” are buried in the cemetery, as is a Korean War veteran and Vietnam War veterans. JCV also believes freed slaves are buried there.