Challenges persist for Mingo water system as WV Public Service Commission opens investigation

Yahoo

28-01-2025

The Mingo County Public Service District has faced multiple challenges over the last year that have led to dirty water and water outages for hundreds of customers. The West Virginia Public Service Commission has opened a general investigation into the utility. (Getty Images)
The West Virginia Public Service Commission is opening a general investigation into operations at the Mingo County Public Service District after multiple challenges at the utility over the last year have led to dirty water and water outages for hundreds of customers.
Going into last weekend, more than 2,000 customers on the water system were left without adequate service due to 'complications' with the district's sediment basin, according to a news release sent Friday by the state Department of Health.
Sediment basins are used to help clear water of mineral deposits and other potential contaminants. In the general investigation filing by the PSC, staff alleged that the utility's management had neglected to maintain the sediment basins for years. This led to the inadequate filtering of water and, ultimately, service terminations for hundreds of customers due to the system being unable to properly clean the water delivered through it.
Representatives for the Mingo County PSD could not be reached for this story by publication time.
According to Facebook posts by the Mingo County PSD since the beginning of this year, inclement weather and the 'conditions' of the Tug River, where the system pulls its water from, have led to multiple challenges in recent weeks: water outages, the inability to treat the water, leaks, low pressure, frozen intake valves and more.
A boil water advisory has been in place for a majority of the system's customers since at least Jan. 9, according to Facebook. As of Friday that was still the case, per the PSD.
Bottled water distributions have been occurring in Mingo County to help the hundreds of residents who have been left with either no water or undrinkable water.
Per a news release, both the state Department of Health and the Department of Homeland Security are providing assistance to local leaders in order to get adequate water service returned as soon as possible and ensure residents are safe in the meantime. While the state Bureau for Public Health will offer technical assistance to help with the ongoing challenges at Mingo County PSD, it's likely that some of the circumstances surrounding the most recent water outages are due more to systemic, continuous issues at the aging utility's facilities than an acute, one-time problem.
In the PSC's filing to open a general investigation into Mingo County PSD — which was initially filed on Jan. 15 — staff for the state agency listed numerous points of concern regarding the utility's operations, some of which date back nearly a year and are unrelated to each other.
In the Gilbert and Justice areas of the county, more than a dozen residents filed formal complaints last April regarding continuous outages, low pressure, leaks, muddy water coming from the pipes and the inadequate operation of fire hydrants. In December, those complaints and the overarching case were reopened by the PSC because residents alleged that remediation efforts promised by the system had not been completed. The problems, they said, persisted and in some cases got worse.
Those challenges in Justice and Gilbert, according to the PSC filings, are 'physically separate and distinct' from the more recent situation. The water comes from a different source and is treated through a different part of the utility's system.
On a broader scale, the Mingo County PSD is violating the state's water rules by failing to properly maintain the system and provide safe, clean and continuous water to customers. The system, according to the PSC, has failed to comply with public health standards and filing requirements, racking up numerous violations on both the operational and service sides of the utility.
Certain reports that are mandated to be completed and released to customers as well as the state — consumer confidence reports, monthly operational reports and more — have gone unfiled. Proper correspondence between the system and customers when issues have occurred remain questionable, according to the PSC. And certain preventative and maintenance plans that should be in place — for contaminant sampling, backflow prevention and more — are not.
The Mingo County PSD, like many utilities in the southern coalfields, is largely cash-strapped, making it difficult at times to stay on top of much needed maintenance work.
In 2019, Mingo County PSD director J.B. Heflin told the Charleston Gazette-Mail that the system was paying $100,000 a month in bond payments alone for previous and then-upcoming projects. That was separate from the money it spent on payroll, equipment, maintenance and more.
According to its most recent annual report, the PSD owes nearly $17.4 million in long-term bond debts. The only income source for the PSD — as is the case with most utilities — are customer bills.
In 2023, per the report, the utility brought in about $3.3 million from water sales to about 4,500 customers. That same year, it paid at least $2.3 million for operating expenses and maintenance, as well as nearly $440,000 in interest on prior loans. Other funds went to mandated reserve accounts and other expenses, leaving little money on hand for special projects or improvements.
PSD staff have told local media over the past few weeks that they need more money to perform the work necessary to get the system completely back online and improve service in the long term. Local officials have said they were unlikely to support a rate increase without changes to how the utility operates. But it's unclear what changes could happen if there is no more money on hand to implement them.
As the general investigation unfolds, the PSC will be responsible for determining what courses of action are possible for the Mingo County PSD to improve. This includes exploring whether the PSD and its operations should be handed over to another, more capable nearby utility under the Distressed and Failing Utilities Improvement Act passed by the state Legislature in 2020.
The state PSC has until July 14 to report findings from its investigation, including recommendations for both the engineering and legal operations of the utility. Once those are filed, the Mingo County PSD will have until Aug. 1 to respond to those findings.
The full case filing for the investigation can be found by searching case number 25-0027-LRR-PWD-GI on the PSC's website.
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