This is a very dangerous project!

Exploration and production waste from gas drilling is currently EXEMPT from all government safeguards and monitoring. Although the dump site owners say it is safe, the truth is that no one really knows and there is much evidence that says otherwise! It's a clear threat to ground and surface water needed to support our families, maintain our livestock, and maintain a healthy population of wildlife and fisheries.The site is in between the Big Sandy and Little Sandy Creeks, both of which important fishing streams.

Jobs and economic development are important, but we must also weigh the catastrophic economic costs if precipitous drop in water quality drives people off their homes and farms. I cannot support an activity which poses such a terrible threat to our way of life.

Your help is needed NOW, especially if you live in or own property in Preston County.

Please send letters to: Preston County Solid Waste Authority c/o Mr. Fred Taylor 118 Lick Run Rd. Newburg, WV 26410 and the Preston County Commission 106 W Main Street, Room 202Kingwood, WV 26537. Ask them NOT TO APPROVE the landfill because of its danger to our water supply and the fish ans wildlife along the Big Sandy River.

The Preston County Solid Waste Authority and the WVDEP's approved siting plan does not allow for this type of facility to be built there. Ask them not to amend their plan. They can stop it locally, and they will if they hear from enough people.

Friends of the Cheat is trying to stay on top of this and other marcellus issues, but needs your support. Please send what you can to them at 119 S. Price St., Kingwood, WV 26537. Phone304-329-362; they take credit cards.

Bruceton landfill approval vote delayed

Friday June 3, 2011
By Michelle Wolford
The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

KINGWOOD -- The Preston County Solid Waste Authority (PCSWA) voted unanimously this week to delay support for a proposed landfill in Bruceton Mills until certain conditions are met. CCS Mainstream Services has purchased 250 acres near W.Va. 26 in Bruceton Mills on which it would like to install a facility for the disposal of waste from the oil and gas industries. The company's first hurdle is the local Solid Waste Authority. CCS Mainstream Services is based in Texas and Canada and has built 24 such facilities, all of them in Canada, according to the company's website.

PCSWA Chair Fred Taylor said unless CCS Mainstream Services obtains an alternative route to the site, which is off Benson Road, the PCSWA will not support it. The motion also calls for CCS to supply an environmental impact statement. The Bruceton Mills site was chosen for its proximity to Interstate 68 -- "and a labor force looking for work," said Scott Herbst, manager of engineering projects for CCS Midstream. He said the project is still in the research stages.

The plan calls for a 120-acre footprint on the 250-acre parcel, and the employment of "between 15 and 20 full-time employees," Herbst said. Taylor said he told Solid Waste Authority members that Bruceton Mills is the cleanest part of Preston County and not only has access to I-68 but also clean water and trout streams. "I bragged on Bruceton," he said. "It's a good family area and a lot of good people are moving there."

The proposed site is near the confluence of Little Sandy Creek and Big Sandy Creek.

Greg Sypolt, another PCSWA member, said he's neutral on the landfill, but wants to know what would come to it.