SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. (WOAY) – On Thursday, Governor Patrick Morrisey visited Summersville Lake State Park to promote the Mountaineer Mile, a walking initiative aimed at improving public health across West Virginia. The event included the announcement of new campground facilities and a push for daily physical activity among residents.
While the Governor was promoting health and wellness in Nicholas County, residents just a few counties down are battling for access to healthy water, both in the tap and the streams.
On February 12th, in Wyoming County Circuit Court Case CC-55-2023-C-23, Judge Miller described the situation as a “public health risk,” to which no one in the court objected.
The Wyoming County Department of Health has sent a letter to one resident stating he should not drink, cook, or bathe with his tap water. The Baileysville Elementary School is less than a mile away and pulls from the same aquifer.
Newswatch asked the Governor, “You are here to promote healthier West Virginians, yet Wyoming County residents face a water crisis. A judge called the situation a public health risk. The DEP knows about it. The Wyoming County Health Department told one resident not to drink, cook or bathe in his water, and the local elementary school pulls from that same aquifer, so the kids are drinking that same water. Why has your administration taken no action?
Morrisey replied, “Well, actually, we’ve been very aggressive trying to look for ways to be helpful. But that’s with the local water districts, and we’re always happy to engage. I think it’s important and we would ask the county commission, you know, to work to develop a plan.”
Meanwhile, the county commission says its hands are tied due to the ongoing court case.
“It’s still in court. There’s nothing I can tell you. There’s no information that I know that you don’t know,” Wyoming County Commission President Jason Mullens said in an interview in March. “When it goes through that court system, they find out where someone’s at fault. That will help us, one way or another, lean towards how we find funding towards fixing the problem.”
The next court hearing on the matter is scheduled for June 9.
As state and local leaders struggle to define who is responsible, residents are growing tired of living in what they consider third-world conditions.
“You need to step up and do your job,” Ricky Lane said when asked what he would say to Gov. Morrisey. “I mean, that’s what we voted you in for, to take care of us and take care of West Virginia. But if you don’t take care of your citizens, you don’t even need to be in that house.”
As Governor Morrisey wrapped up his speech at the newly opened Mountaineer Mile trail, he said, “If we don’t take the time every day to take care of ourselves, we have to remind ourselves that we should…to be around just a little bit longer for our friends and our loved ones.”
As Governor Morrisey continues his Mountaineer Mile tour, encouraging West Virginians to get healthier by walking through “pristine” state parks, many families in southern West Virginia are still living without clean drinking water.
Residents in Wyoming County say taking care of themselves isn’t about finding time; it’s about fighting for clean water, being told not to bathe in their own homes, and worrying about the water their children are drinking at school.
