CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A bill introduced by Sen. John Unger (D-Berkeley, 16) would require public meetings in areas impacted by water or air permits.
Under the bill, all applications for proposed air quality permits must include a public meeting in the community where the requested actions will take place. This amends agency rules set by the Department of Environmental Protection, which require a 45 day public comment period. A physical meeting is allowed under current rules, but is not required.
“Right now the law says it may, but it doesn’t necessarily have to,” said Unger on Tuesday’s MetroNews Talkline. “This would give the residents of that area an opportunity to learn about it, to be able to voice their concerns (and) get their questions answered. So I’m hoping as we move forward from this point on that people would have some agency over their own future.”
Sen. Unger has previously been outspoken about his opposition to the controversial Rockwool insulation plant under construction in Jefferson County. No public meetings were held in the eastern panhandle while Rockwool was going through the approval process with the DEP.
“If you live in Charleston, it’s easy to just come on over to an agency. But where we live, in the eastern panhandle, we’re the furthest from this area so it becomes difficult. So why not have the public hearing in the area where it’s going to be impacted, so it can be convenient for the people that are going to be dealing with this to be able to show up and learn about it.”
Rockwool continues to insist all proper testing and documentation has been completed to ensure minimal environmental impact to the region based on a sister facility in Mississippi. Rockwool said in a previous statement, in part:
“ROCKWOOL obtained its Clean Air permit from the West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection (WV DEP) April 30, 2018 after meeting the requirements set
forth by the Federal Clean Air Act as adopted by WV DEP. This included the submission
of emissions data and the identification of the Best Achievable Control Technologies
(BACT) that will be used to keep emissions below federal and state limits.”
“That should’ve been discussed with the people of that community,” Unger said Tuesday. “There should have been some input other than just saying ‘hey, by the way we’re just going to build this right next door to you’. So one could argue ‘well it’s not in my back yard’. There might be some aspects of it but I think there are legitimate concerns about the environmental and public health aspects of this company.”