Rowlesburg council questioned about illegal sewage discharge into the Cheat River

From an Article by Thresea Marthley, Preston County News & Journal, October 30, 2016

Rowlesburg, WV — Rowlesburg residents and Friends of the Cheat (FOC) executive director Amanda Pitzer questioned town council on Monday about what the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) said was an “illicit” sewage discharge into the Cheat River.

The Preston County News & Journal first reported the Town of Rowlesburg and the WVDEP had entered into a Consent Order agreement over the town exceeding its sewage discharge limitations into the Cheat River from the town’s wastewater collection system.

“This pipe is discharging a storm water and wastewater mix and is currently unpermitted,” WVDEP Environmental Inspector Mary Sanders told the Preston County News & Journal on Friday, Oct. 21. “This unpermitted discharge has already been addressed as part of Consent Order 8432.”

Pitzer told council she wouldn’t characterize the issue as “little.”

“This is more of a problem than I originally thought,” Pitzer said. “I am here to help, and one way I can help is by having all the information.”

Pitzer said in the consent order, it was reported there was 12 million gallons of water a day going through the system.

“We are seeing 6,000 times that at different points,” Pitzer said. “This concerns me. That is an amazing amount of water, and I can’t believe that number is correct.”

Mayor Barbara Banister contradicted Pitzer during the meeting, telling her the data she was presenting was incorrect. Pitzer then asked Banister and council if she could see the Corrective Plan of Action that was required by the WVDEP as part of the consent order. Banister said they were not required to submit one.

“We were not asked about that,” Banister said. “It was not on the consent order that I signed to my knowledge.”

Pitzer told Banister her signature is on page five of the consent order, and on page three under “Order for Compliance,” number 5 states a proposed plan of corrective action was to be submitted within 30 days of the effective date of the order for approval.

“That would have been in May,” Pitzer said. “I would really like to see it instead to having to use the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to get it.” Banister continued to deny the town had agreed to submit such a plan.

A Corrective Action Plan, according to the WVDEP, outlines action items and completion dates. The Preston County News & Journal has learned from the WVDEP that the town did indeed submit plan.

“Rowlesburg submitted one, and it was denied for being insufficient,” Sanders wrote in an email. “To the best of my knowledge, WVDEP has not received another one.”

Resident Phil Wotring asked town council if the sign that states “sewage discharges into the Cheat River every time it rains” can be removed.

“It looks bad on the town to have that sign in our park,” Wotring said. “And has the problem been corrected, and was it required by the West Virginia DEP?”

Banister said with the town having backwash from the storm/sewage system going into the river, she wanted to let people know what was happening and had the sign put up. “That sign was put up approximately six months ago,” Banister said. “It (the sign) was not required by the DEP.”

Banister said she thought the “problem” was fixed when a contractor, Beitzel Corporation, was hired to put in catch basin at the site where the mixed water was pouring into the river. The pipe is located near the Rowlesburg Park.

The work Beitzel Corporation completed was paid for by Mayor Banister and her husband without council approval. Banister did receive council’s blessing however, after the work had been completed. Early this month, the issue was investigated by the state Ethics Commission, which ultimately granted Baniser and the town a contract exemption. The town was ordered to pay Banister and her husband back the $54,637.94 they spent on the project. Details of the payback have not been released.

However, Banister admitted the illicit drainage pipe will never be completely resolved until the town’s waste and stormwater are separated. Rowlesburg has what the WVDEP calls an unpermitted combined sewage overflow or CSO.

“Because of the combined sewer and storm water lines, it has been doing this for years. After you get so much, it has to go somewhere because it is all the same lines,” Banister said.