July Flooding & Tornadoes
Last week, Upshur & Lewis Counties experienced catastrophic flooding. Pleasants and Doddridge Counties also experienced tornadoes. Community organizations from around the state and beyond have responded to the crisis, bringing aid and relief to residents who’ve lost so much. We’re heartened by the outreach as these communities begin to heal.
For the first time since its inception a decade ago, the state’s Flood Resiliency Trust Fund has funding. With just $5 million allotted, we worry it won’t be nearly enough to help folks recover while also preparing for and mitigating the harm of the next flood event.
Recently, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani committed $43 million to launch the city’s own flood resiliency efforts. Although NYC’s GDP is greater than West Virginia’s, there is still a lot of room for flood resiliency investment from the state government. We will be fighting for these investments in the coming 2027 Regular Legislative Session.
If you feel called to act, consider contacting your local representatives to urge them to strengthen investments in the Flood Resiliency Trust Fund. It will take sustained effort from constituents like you to create the change our communities need.
Charleston Gazette-Mail
EPA plans to ax public participation mandate for data center, other industry plants
A new EPA proposal would strip Americans’ right to public participation in air quality permits in the name of “cutting red tape,” according to Lee Zeldin. Read more HERE.
WV frustration mounts amid evidence state is lagging in data center protection
Energy economics specialist Cathy Kunkel expressed concern for the future of the proposed gas plant in Monongalia County and its long-term sustainability. Read more HERE.
PSC makes clear coal comes first in FirstEnergy gas plant, ApCo energy plan hearings
Both Sierra Club and United Mine Workers of America commented against the plan. Read more about the hearing HERE.
‘Poisonous’: Clean-Seas, DEP panned at plastics conversion site air permit hearing
The entrance of Riverside High School is less than 500 feet from the fenceline of the planned plastics pyrolysis facility in Belle. Residents gathered to speak out against awarding the facility an air permit. Read more HERE.
Mason County data center construction site floods again; locals concerned
Since construction began, the data center site has flooded a neighboring street several times. Read more about it HERE.
Officials quiet on Peoples Cartage fire chemicals amid WV orders targeting facility
State officials aren’t answering Gazette-Mail requests for information on the massive fire in Parkersburg. With a history of hazardous waste-reporting and handling violations, the circumstances of the warehouse fire have raised a lot of questions for Wood County residents. Read more HERE.
Justice firm heads liable in $18M+ case, Greenbrier may need more deal-sealing time
A ruling in a US District Court will force Jay Justice and Stephen Ball to pay more than $18M for a 2024 ruling and contempt of court sanctions for the past two years. Read more HERE.
Vast environmental harm inflicted, projected for Monarch Google data center sites
Developers of the Google data center slated for Putnam county have asked to dispose of “fill material” in nearby waterways. The campus will impact 34 acres worth of wetlands. Read more about the application HERE.
Public health risk questions, past violations loom in wake of Peoples Cartage fire
The massive warehouse fire that burned over the July 4th holiday has raised questions. Mike Tony has more details HERE.
Upcoming PSC meetings could shape WV energy future—and grow fossil fuel cost risks
FirstEnergy’s proposed $2.5 billion gas-powered plant will increase electricity bills for Mon Power and Potomac Edison customers. The plant will increase energy capacity to serve rising demand from data centers. Read more HERE.
DEP poised to approve Clean-Seas air permit amid financial, public health red flags
Riverside High School is less than 500 feet from the potential Clean-Seas property line. The facility will convert plastics into oil—a process with serious public health risks to those in the area. Read more HERE.
WV data center project pushback from state and citizens runs into legal obstacles
The office of Secretary of State is finding that noncompliance with legislative rule isn’t grounds for license revocation. State leaders are grappling with unclear data center regulation and litigation. Read more HERE.
Justice firm’s delinquent DEP fines rise past $1.6M amid DOJ criminal reliability relief
Regulatory and legal loopholes could allow mining companies like Justice’s to obtain new permits despite failing to pay mounting fines to DEP. Read more HERE.
Chemours agrees to $450M deal with feds, DEP over chronic multistate PFAS pollution
Since 1951, the Washington Works chemical plant in Parkersburg has been polluting air and groundwater with PFAS. Read more about the recent settlement HERE.
Inside Trump administration’s eight-figure bet on MAGA ally-led WV coal plant
TerraSpark—led in part by Alex Phillips who supported the 2021 insurrection—has been awarded millions in grant funding for a 1,600 megawatt facility in the Mount Storm area. Read more HERE.
DEP poised to OK significant Nucor facility air pollution increase via permit
update
WVDEP has issued a preliminary approval for a modified air quality permit for a Nucor Steel West Virginia LLC steel mill in Mason County. The permit would allow the mill to emit “significantly more air pollutants.” Read more HERE.
Road miles left to be built dwindle after opening of new section of Corridor H
112 of the 132 miles of Corridor H are now open to drivers. The highway poses risks to the local economy and environment. Read more about the fight against it HERE.
Mountain State Spotlight
Deadly flooding in West Virginia finds prevention plans unaddressed
Although West Virginia has a State Resiliency Plan, most of it remains unfunded. Without adequate funding, the plan doesn’t have much power. Read more HERE.
Tucker County residents want to know what Fundamental Data is planning. The state’s data center laws let companies avoid scrutiny.
Fundamental Data is sending mixed messaging over whether its Tucker County project is real or conceptual—and the DEP seems as confused as the rest of us. Read more HERE.
As West Virginians struggle with rising electric bills, here are four ways lawmakers could help bring relief
Electricity rates have risen by 50% in the past decade, making utility bills unaffordable for many West Virginians. Instead of investing in energy options that could relieve some of the burden, legislators have doubled down on coal-powered plants. Read more HERE.
In the garbage wars, West Virginia gave counties a say. Data center opponents say they deserve one, too.
Long before data centers, developers set their sights on empty West Virginia coal mines as the newest way to extract money from our lands. Read more HERE.
Chemours must cut Ohio River ‘forever chemical’ pollution under new settlement. But a fight over future permit limits looms.
The company will pay hundreds of millions in a settlement that includes operations in New Jersey and North Carolina, as well as West Virginia. Read more HERE.
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
New Gas Power Plant Coming To Grant County
A new press release from Gov. Morrissey’s office cites Dominion Energy’s proposed Mt. Storm Combined Cycle Station will generate millions for the local economy in Grant and Tucker Counties. Read and listen for more HERE.
First Responders Conduct Search and Rescue, Begin Storm Cleanup
Among the flood response in and around Lewis and Upshur Counties, 500 National Guard members are stationed at West Virginia Wesleyan College. Read and listen for more HERE.
‘By The Grace Of God’: No Loss Of Life In Hard-Hit Weston
After half a foot of rain dumped on Weston, the town was washed out. But the community jumped to launch search and rescue efforts. Read and listen for more HERE.
Company Issues Statement On Wood County Warehouse Fire
A fire at the Peoples Cartage warehouse in Parkersburg reignited on Sunday after initially being suppressed on Saturday. Air monitoring equipment has been deployed as the fire continues to burn. Read and listen for more HERE.
Studying Endangered Bats, A Pioneering Appalachian Filmmaker And The Supreme Court Rules On Local Sports, This West Virginia Week
Bats are an important part of ecosystems in the state, but their populations are declining due to climate change. Listen for more HERE.
State’s Sixth Data Center Announced Near Wheeling
Silicon Foundation Energy plans to build a new data center in Ohio County. The campus will be built on an old iron foundry. Read and listen for more HERE.
West Virginia Watch
GOP govs join Trump pledge designed to shield ratepayers from data center costs
More than 200 signers have entered the voluntary pledge to reduce ratepayer burden for all the utility upgrades needed for the data center boom happening in the US. Read more HERE.
Fundamental Data worker says company wrote WV data center law, urges project guardrails in own town
A man who claims to be a former engineer for Fundamental Data has recently claimed the company helped write and pass HB 2014 two cycles ago. Read more about it HERE.
WV advocates want to know who owns the land proposed for data center development in Tucker County
As developments unfold, it becomes less clear who actually owns the land for Fundamental Data’s project in Tucker County. Read more HERE.
Relief from energy bills unlikely as utilities request billions in rate hikes
Across the country, utility companies have requested a staggering $9.2 billion in rate increases in the second quarter of the year. Read more HERE.
Decades after asbestos exposure, WV workers still paying price for fragmented lung cancer records
Generations of West Virginians have labored under industry for the betterment of the country—but not without consequence. Jordan Cade writes about the impact of asbestos exposure on communities today. Read HERE.
How Virginia became world’s data center capital and how it’s going
Decades in the making, Virginia is the national and world data center capital. Read more about the journey HERE.
A ‘never-ending cycle’: Data shows flood events have more than doubled in WV since June 2016 flood
Since the 2016 floods, there have been thousands of flood events recorded in West Virginia. Read more about it HERE.
Chemours would pay $11.25M to WV under proposed settlement in federal case over PFAS discharges
A lawsuit filed by the EPA and WVDEP against Chemours could secure millions for West Virginia. Chemours violated the Clean Water Act, the Toxic Substance Control Act and the West Virginia Water Pollution Control Act, among other policies, by chronically polluting air and water with PFAS. Read more HERE.
New York Times
The U.S. Is Pulling Back on Energy Efficiency Just as Prices Are Rising
Oil Firms Knew for Decades of Methane’s Danger to Planet, Documents Suggest https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/climate/methane-natural-gas-leaks-flaring.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
Illinois Changes Tack on Data Centers https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/climate/data-centers-pritzker.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
