This project comes with a $150 million dollar price tag and will be located just north of the nearby North Jefferson Elementary school, an estimated 10,000 feet away. Just behind the elementary school, in the poorest part of the county, lies a residential complex with small one-story homes and mobile homes.
Rural areas are pictured as clean and sprawling, but rural communities are uniquely vulnerable to groundwater and air pollution threats from developing industries looking to site new construction. An earlier post on the blog, here, discusses a dichotomy between health and financial security for rural residents who are forced to contemplate leaving polluted hometowns.
The plant, though its from a environmentally progressive European country, will run exclusively on coal and natural gas. Citizens in the area are very concerned about new industry designed to run on fossil fuels, bringing infrastructure and jobs that may be based on technology that is not future-proof. They also fear air pollution from particulate matter, sulfates, and water pollution from formaldehyde.
Rural areas are pictured as clean and sprawling, but rural communities are uniquely vulnerable to groundwater and air pollution threats from developing industries looking to site new construction. An earlier post on the blog, here, discusses a dichotomy between health and financial security for rural residents who are forced to contemplate leaving polluted hometowns.
The plant, though its from a environmentally progressive European country, will run exclusively on coal and natural gas. Citizens in the area are very concerned about new industry designed to run on fossil fuels, bringing infrastructure and jobs that may be based on technology that is not future-proof. They also fear air pollution from particulate matter, sulfates, and water pollution from formaldehyde.
Members of the community are worried what these pollutants could do to their children. Another key concern of the citizens is the local topography. Originally, the site was an orchard, and the land has yet to be developed at all.
The area is underlain by Karst formations, which is prone to sinkholes. This is a persistent concern of Jefferson County residents, and according to reports from the State, 21 sinkholes had already been reported on the site as of November 2020.
These sinkholes present a unique threat to the area. Residents that rely on private wells for their water supply are at risk of contamination, as these sinkholes break the fragile barrier between surface and groundwater. Mitigation techniques are possible, of course, but similar to houses built in areas with frequent hurricanes, wildfires, or other natural disasters, there is a certain inevitability to these events that mitigation cannot prevent.
Activists and locals from West Virginia have been campaigning against the factory since its infancy, but their efforts are more optimistic now that the Biden administration is heading the EPA. Initially, residents were not told about the new plant but instead 'found out'. At a Jefferson County Commission meeting in 2018, citizens aired their frustrations without success. Citizens Concerned About Rockwool was one of those groups.
These sinkholes present a unique threat to the area. Residents that rely on private wells for their water supply are at risk of contamination, as these sinkholes break the fragile barrier between surface and groundwater. Mitigation techniques are possible, of course, but similar to houses built in areas with frequent hurricanes, wildfires, or other natural disasters, there is a certain inevitability to these events that mitigation cannot prevent.
Activists and locals from West Virginia have been campaigning against the factory since its infancy, but their efforts are more optimistic now that the Biden administration is heading the EPA. Initially, residents were not told about the new plant but instead 'found out'. At a Jefferson County Commission meeting in 2018, citizens aired their frustrations without success. Citizens Concerned About Rockwool was one of those groups.
Details regarding the nature of the operation and opportunities for public input were minimal and framed in a manner that would not reasonably consider public opinion…
In Feb of 2019, eleven protestors opposing Rockwool's development in Ranson were arrested in D.C. after sitting in Senator Joe Manchin’s office (R-WV). Senator Manchin had previously cancelled a town hall to discuss the insulation plant with his constituents.
The protestors occupied the Senator’s office, livestreaming the event to popular anti-Rockwool Facebook groups. The group even sang John Denver’s “Country Roads”, which seems to be a recurring favorite of those at anti-Rockwool protests.
At another protest a few months later, twenty-four West Virginians were arrested for obstructing a roadway and an officer while protesting in front of the Rockwool construction site.
Despite extensive protests and collective organization by those who will be most impacted by an insulation factory in their backyards, the efforts to stop Rockwool have not yet succeeded. However, rural communities and organizers have achieved some victories. Most recently, a petition successfully pushed Rockwool to fund their own sewer lines for the property. Previously, the sewage lines were publicly funded.
The factory is set to open in a few months according to Rockwool, and rural citizens of Jefferson County have pleaded with local officials, state officials, federal officials, the corporation itself, and even the home country of the corporation for help.
At another protest a few months later, twenty-four West Virginians were arrested for obstructing a roadway and an officer while protesting in front of the Rockwool construction site.
Despite extensive protests and collective organization by those who will be most impacted by an insulation factory in their backyards, the efforts to stop Rockwool have not yet succeeded. However, rural communities and organizers have achieved some victories. Most recently, a petition successfully pushed Rockwool to fund their own sewer lines for the property. Previously, the sewage lines were publicly funded.
The factory is set to open in a few months according to Rockwool, and rural citizens of Jefferson County have pleaded with local officials, state officials, federal officials, the corporation itself, and even the home country of the corporation for help.
Now, with a new EPA, they hope reviewing decisions of the previous administration will allow for some hope. At the very least, concerned citizens want the corporation to obtain a new permit that reflects their plan to phase out coal power.
We hope there’s a calmer, more straightforward approach…[b]ecause we really need the EPA to step in here and tell the [West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection] that they have to follow the rules and make R[ockwool] get a new (air quality) permit.
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2 comments:
Thank you for highlighting a rural environmental justice issue, Kennedy. Sadly, the last administration gutted NEPA, and a lot of harmful projects flew through the process. One of the biggest changes was removing all consideration of cumulative impacts. Without comprehensive data on the ambient environment, I'm not surprised the community feels anxiety over the factory's location. Any harmful pollutants are significantly more harmful to children, too. I hope the Biden administration is able to correct this error.
Well researched article! To play a little devils advocate here: are there any residents happy to have the dozens (maybe hundreds) of jobs that this factory would bring? Given the adverse effects of unemployment (higher rates of addiction, deaths of despair, depression, and domestic abuse), do the positive effects the new jobs would have outweigh the negative effects of the pollution? I don’t have an answer, but I believe this should be considered when deciding the factory’s fate.
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