MUB receives positive news on Morgans Run extension project

Yahoo

a day ago

Jun. 11—MORGANTOWN — Residents in approximately three dozen homes in the Morgans Run Road area along Cheat Lake have spent years purchasing, collecting and hauling water due to low-producing wells plagued with high iron and manganese levels.
The Morgantown Utility Board announced Tuesday that a solution may be at hand.
"I am very pleased to report that we have received notice from the West Virginia DEP that their [water extension ] project will be eligible for Abandoned Mine Lands Reclamation funding, " MUB General Manager Mike McNulty told members of the utility's board of directors.
MUB's involvement with the issue dates back at least two years.
In November 2023, the extension project was estimated at $3.7 million. MUB filed applications for $4 million through the West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council, but was ultimately denied those funds.
Based on the latest announcement from the WVDEP, McNulty said MUB will put together a new cost estimate for the work. He also noted the AML Grant won't pay for the entire project, but is expected to cover "a significant portion."
It's expected the unfunded portion would ultimately be repaid through surcharges on customer bills in the new service area. During the 2023 push, MUB secured user agreements from 27 of the 35 or so households.
"We're going through and redoing our cost estimates so that we can understand what would be covered and what would still be remaining, so that we can then talk intelligently to the folks out there. And probably the next step, once we have those cost estimates done, would be to get all those residents together and go over that and let them know, you know, what's still in front of us and get commitments from them that we want to move forward, " Assistant General Manager Rich Rogers said. "But what an awesome thing for those people. We haven't done the cost estimates, but we're talking about over half of a very significant project."
Rogers said there are residents in the impacted area spending hundreds of dollars monthly to have water hauled to their homes.
"The significance of the AML grant cannot be overstated. Keep in mind that it's the policy of the Public Service Commission that the costs of line extensions be borne by those that benefit from it rather than be carried by all of MUB's rate payers. In situations such as this, the cost of the project would most likely be too great for the residents to bear, " McNulty said in a Wednesday press release.
MUB credits a list of agencies and individuals with getting the funding lined up, including the residents of Morgans Run, U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, Delegate David McCormick, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the West Virginia DEP's Office of Abandoned Mines and Reclamation.
"We pride ourselves in finding solutions to meet MUB's mission of protecting public health. This grant furthers that mission and serves as recognition of the persistence of the residents, the strength of our state and federal leadership, and the trust that they hold in MUB's ability to get things done, " McNulty said. "We're proud to be a part of this team and excited to help these families obtain safe, clean water."