A federal court judge today denied Columbia Gas the right to move forward with construction of a gas pipeline through public land in Washington County, Md. The ruling is a blow both to Columbia Gas and to the pipeline’s main intended customer, the Rockwool insulation factory in West Virginia, now […]
Rockwool
25 posts
Opponents of the under-construction Rockwool factory in Jefferson County, W.Va., today took aim at the insulation manufacturer’s “green” image with a protest at a key professional association in the construction and building industry. Appealing to the core values articulated by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in Washington, DC, members […]
Several Jefferson County, W.Va., residents demonstrated at home improvement retailers in Gaithersburg, Md., in an effort to pressure them to ban Rockwool insulation products from their shelves. They object to Rockwool North America, a division of the Danish Rockwool Group, siting a mineral wool factory in their county–one which will […]
Ranson, W.Va.–The Jefferson County Board of Education will no longer pursue condemnation of Rockwool’s property to build a educational center to provide services for student with special needs. The school board abandoned its bid to obtain the Rockwool site via eminent domain in a settlement agreement announced today by the […]
Kearneysville, W.Va.–The Jefferson County Development Authority (JCDA) today convened for the first time since a mass resignation of members following the election in November 2018. The body only regained its quorum recently after several months of candidate interviews conducted by the Jefferson County Commission. Thirteen members were in attendance today […]
Ranson, W.Va.—Local residents rallied at the doorstep of the planned Rockwool insulation factory on May 16 to express their resolve to keep fighting the insulation manufacturer, even as walls of factory buildings rise on the construction site. Resist Rockwool, organizer of the rally, estimated that as many as 400 people […]
Update: Building plans including foundations for three “stacks” are permitted for the Rockwool plant. Two foundations are intended for 210-feet tall smokestacks, and the third is for a 115-feet tall, 4-foot diameter “chimney,” according to Michael Zarin, Vice President of Group Communications at Rockwool, in an email to DC Media […]
Update, May 1, 2019: A federal court judge granted Rockwool’s motion for a preliminary injunction, halting the Jefferson County Board of Education’s efforts to obtain the Rockwool site by eminent domain. The judge’s order means that the BOE may not pursue condemnation of the property in state court. The injunction […]
Ranson, W.Va.–Granny Smith Lane was until recently riddled with almost impassable potholes. If you navigated them successfully and wound your way to the end of the narrow, tree-lined roadway, you would reach a secluded corner of what used to be an apple orchard. Hardly noticeable, a few gravestones sit atop […]
Drone photos indicate that concrete walls are rising on the Rockwool site in Ranson, W.Va., a signal that construction of the manufacturing complex to produce mineral wool fiber has begun in earnest. Official groundbreaking took place on June 26, 2018 and site preparation has proceeded since then. Construction of the […]
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 […]
Washington, DC–Twenty-one people were arrested on Thursday when they obstructed the gates of the Danish Embassy. The protesters, about 100 in total, had come from West Virginia to make a moral appeal to the Danish ambassador to hold Rockwool, a Danish company, to the same health and safety standards when […]