UPDATE: Kanawha Falls says it has tested the water at the resident’s house and found no evidence of bacterial contamination.
Original:
GLEN FERRIS, WV (WOAY) – August 15 marks the four-year anniversary of the rain event that created sewage leaks into the Kanawha River throughout the Upper Kanawha Valley, which continue to be a public health concern for residents and potentially everyone downstream.
The West Virginia Public Service Commission recently ruled in favor of a Glen Ferris resident who filed a formal complaint against Kanawha Falls Public Service District.
On September 9th of 2025, Clayton Koch filed a formal complaint with the WV Public Service Commission against Kanawha Falls PSD, alleging that a sewage pump station his home was connected to hadn’t worked since the August 2022 flood event in the Upper Kanawha Valley. It was the same storm that damaged the Mt. Olive prison line through Cannelton Hollow and Scrabble Creek, resulting in raw sewage spilling onto the ground and into the Kanawha River.
In late April of 2026, his hearing took place at Gauley Bridge Town Hall, and on June 4th the Public Service Commission ordered Kanawha Falls PSD to repair or replace the grinder pump and take other corrective actions.
“I felt great,” Koch said. “I couldn’t see anybody denying what we were asking for. It was just common sense stuff.”
Twenty days after the ruling, with no appeal filed by Kanawha Falls PSD, Koch has yet to see any corrective actions taken.
“Nobody’s been down here. And you can tell from the way the weeds are grown up, you can’t even see the barrel around the pump station,” Koch said. “They violated five of the rulings that the judge put out. They’re still billing us. They’re not supposed to bill us and they’re supposed to reimburse for the last four years for our bills. They haven’t done that. They’re supposed to come down weekly and treat this or it won’t smell and make sure everything’s running right. And they’re supposed to have some kind of system to collect the sewer.”
To prevent sewage backup into his residence, Koch must still take matters into his own hands.
“Well, when you flush the commodes, you can tell they don’t want to flush right. And then eventually you have to plunge them. And then from there, I know to come out and check the line, and then it was backed up. You could see water in the clean out line. So I had to snake it out and push all that stuff out,” Koch said. “It’s hard to imagine that they just let this go unnoticed in the Kanawha River. All this sewage, and nobody seemed to care about it,” Koch said.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental protection has filed a complaint in Fayette County Circuit Court against Kanawha Falls PSD. The Public Service Commission has ordered a general investigation into Kanawha Falls, and the Fayette County Commission voted to launch its own investigation during its meeting today.
About a quarter mile down river from Koch’s residence, another Glen Ferris resident obtained a free water sample kit at the Montgomery Public Library. The kits are provided by the Smithers Creek Watch organization.
“So we just kind of decided to test it. And when we tested it, it came back positive for fecal matter in our drinking water and the river,” Daniel Turner said.
It is important to note that these test results have not been verified by the Bureau of Public Health or the WV DEP. Turner and his neighbors have also reached out to various public officials.
“I just hope that somebody actually looks into this and really investigates, and hopefully somebody can actually fix this problem without getting all excuses or not being answered at all,” Turner said. “We really need help down here, and we need somebody to really do something with the situation.”
