WASHINGTON, DC (WOAY) – The Consolidation Appropriations Act for the 2024 fiscal year has passed the House of Representatives, authorizing $460 billion in spending to prevent a partial government shutdown.
The bill includes 605 pages worth of earmarks for projects around the country.
Several of those projects are based in Southern West Virginia, according to Representative Carol Miller’s office.
“This year, I have been specifically focused on projects that would increase access to clean water and provide medical services for West Virginians. This includes $11.8 million worth of funding for mobile medical units, wastewater and water system improvement projects, and economic development programs,” Miller said. “I’ve seen firsthand the need for these projects across West Virginia, and I look forward to them being finished quickly. No matter where you live, everyone deserves clean drinking water and access to good medical healthcare.”
$1.75 million has been earmarked for a sewer construction project in the Town of Davy in McDowell County.
Most of the town’s raw sewage is “straight-piped” into two local streams and the Tug Fork River, according to Miller’s funding request. The rest goes to private septic programs.
The project would build a treatment plant to extend wastewater collections and significantly reduce pollution and health hazards.
Another $750,000 will extend water service to roughly 254 customers in the surrounding communities. Water would be provided to Baileysville Primary School, which serves 319 students.
$557,000 will be used to develop a site in Mercer County for economic development.
The site will be graded and span 3.5 acres. It is adjacent to the existing West Virginia CREATE center.
$650,000 will fund renovations at the REACHH Family Resource Center in Hinton.
Three buildings, including a food pantry, are in need of repair. The money will upgrade facilities and equipment to better serve children who are victims of or witnesses to domestic and sexual abuse.
Additional projects include:
- $905,000 for a Marshall Mobile Medical Unit that will serve Logan, Mingo, Lincoln, Boone, Mason, Cabell, and Wayne Counties
- $211,000 for a mobile law enforcement technologies project in Braxton County
- $750,000 for a pre-treatment facility construction project at the Salt Rock Sewer Public Service District wastewater treatment plant in Cabell County.
- $1 million for wastewater improvements project in Wayne County
- $1 million for the Sarvis Fork Water Service Extension Project in Sandyville in Jackson County
- $1 million for a water system improvement project in Clay County
- $750,000 for the Williamson Water System Infrastructure Project in Mingo County
- $1.5 million for the Crab Creek Water Treatment Plant Improvement Project in Mason County
- $1 million for the St. Albans Boys and Girls Club in Kanawha County