FAYETTE COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – With the Public Service Commission’s long-awaited decision regarding the sale of four Fayette county PSD systems, everyone’s attention remains on the significant health and environmental issues that the communities these districts serve are facing.
The most famous of which is a state prison’s raw sewage entering Smithers Creek through Cannelton Hollow and Wednesday’s PSC order addresses this.
“The joint stipulation requires WVAWC, immediately upon Commission approval, to begin planning and design efforts intended to address issues affecting Kanawha Falls customers at Cannelton hollow and Scrabble Creek,” the order states.
WOAY reached out to American Water regarding a January 2026 PSC filing, where they testify that they have no design drawings and anticipate that project to take four years to plan, design, permit and construct.
We asked if this timeline was still accurate and have not yet received a response.
E.L. Robinson Engineering had completed designs for Kanawha Falls PSD for this very repair as well as replacing all water supply lines in the district. Kanawha Falls received approval to use public grant funds to complete the project. However, some of that public money became unavailable when the Fayette County Commission began the sale process.
The WVDEP told WOAY in February that “WVDEP had already awarded clean water state revolving fund design assistance to Kanawha Falls PSD and was working to advance a solution. However, once the proposed acquisition by west Virginia American Water emerged, eligibility for those public funds became uncertain because the program cannot finance privately owned systems.”
E.L. Robinson alleges they are owed money from the district for these design plans which are not accounted for in the county’s asset purchase agreement and have won a preliminary injunction in Fayette County Circuit Court.
The PSC order also addresses this stating, “To the extent the preliminary injunction remains in effect and prohibits consummation of the transfer of Kanawha Falls’ assets, that transfer may not close unless and until the requirements of the preliminary injunction have been satisfied or the preliminary injunction has otherwise been modified, dissolved, or terminated.”
American Water’s cost recovery for non-routine capital improvements is also addressed in the PSC’s order citing the joint stipulation provision which provides that cost recovery may appear in future DSIC surcharges on their customer’s water bills pending PSC approval.
The order also addresses the WVDEP’s civil action against Kanawha Falls PSD in Fayette County Circuit Court over Clean Water Act violations.
“The joint stipulation does not resolve the potential civil liability of Kanawha Falls in bandy v. Kanawha falls PSD…. WVAWC acknowledges that it will need to work with WVDEP to develop a plan to address non-compliance issues at Kanawha Falls,” the order reads.
Even with multiple claims of unaccounted for debt, the PSC firmly stated that the purchase price of 13 million dollars shall not increase.
WOAY reached out to the three Fayette County commissioners asking when residents can expect the dissolution of Kanawha Falls, Page-Kincaid, and Armstrong Creek PSDs. We also asked when they anticipated the sale to close and have not received a response.
The beleaguered Page-Kincaid PSD chairman, Jim McCartney, applauded the news of the approved sale.
“I’m very excited about the progress. We have a meeting on the 24th to start learning how the transfer is going to work out. Again, very excited about the process moving forward. I don’t know how long we can keep going without this happening,” he said.
