West Virginia Should Care About Its Water
Morgantown Dominion Post
18 January 2014
By John Samsell
JUST OVER 10 years ago, writings in this space were all about
water in West Virginia. Concern at that time was about foreign
interests consuming another of the state’s prime resources.
What occurred downstate in recent weeks wasn’t even a
consideration. But now we know how precious our state’s water can
be, even to our residents.
A chemical leak that polluted the Elk River and southward has
drawn attention nationally, even internationally, and people are
rallying to help those in need. Who is to blame for all of this
will be determined eventually, but finger-pointing is bound to
continue for years to come.
Although there is no doubt that preservation of the state’s rivers
and streams has progressed considerably during the past decades,
there is no doubt more attention to this natural resource is a
must.
Attention to pollution of our streams has been improved by dribs
and drabs, primarily because of the extraction of our natural
resources during the past century.
The state’s first public service commission was created 100 years
ago, in 1913. Yet, at that time, concerns were primarily related
to telephones and railroads. Administration of the Workers
Compensation Fund also was considered.
It wasn’t until 1914 that a movement was begun to regulate coal
mines, tanneries and pulp mills that were discharging waste
materials into streams.
The result of those laws included a plan by Parsons Pulp and Paper
to have a by-product plant to use waste material that was being
dumped into the Cheat River.
Also in 1914, a hygienic laboratory was created at WVU. Skilled
chemists and bacteriologists were in charge. In 1918, that unit
was moved to Charleston.
Under a 1915 law, a state health department was placed in charge
of testing streams and water supplies. Improvement of drinking
water was the goal, finally. Many outbreaks of typhoid fever were
investigated in relation to water supplies.
As noted in a 2003 column, water is one of West Virginia’s prime
natural resources, and others besides state residents are
interested in it. The concern was that out-of-state interests were
about to take charge of the state’s water without much
remuneration to West Virginia, just as many coal interests did.
Late in 2003, American Water Works Co., which owned water in 26
states, had requested a 16-percent rate increase just nine months
after it took over water systems downstate.
A British company, Thames, had been approved to take over the
water interests in January 2003. That company was a subsidiary of
RWE Aktiengesellschaft, a German firm.
It was West Virginia American Water Co. that controls the water
companies where the chemical leak occurred recently. A decade ago,
the firm said its water rates in 45 systems in the state had rates
lower than other companies. The Public Service Commission said,
however, that those had fewer than 200 customers each, or an
average of 1,000 users. West Virginia-American at the same time
had 170,000 customers.
The city installed filters to help purify its water in 1897, and
in 1912, it built a bigger reservoir at Tibbs Run. By 1922, daily
consumption averaged 133 gallons per citizen. That included
industrial use. The total was 2.5 million gallons a day.
In 2014 and beyond, West Virginians hope their water gets more
attention.
JOHN SAMSELL is a retired copy editor/special sections editor for
The Dominion Post. His column appears Saturday. Email him at
columns@dominionpost.com.