WEST VIRGINIA (WOAY) – After months of coverage on the water crisis plaguing Southern West Virginia, U.S. Congress is addressing and taking its first formal step toward a federal response.
While the bill still needs to pass both chambers, this marks the first time Congress has formally acknowledged the crisis.
A new amendment, introduced by U.S. Representative Riley Moore, co-sponsored by Congresswoman Carol Miller, and backed in the Senate by Senator Shelley Moore Capito, has passed the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. It directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify federal resources that could help address drinking water violations in counties like Wyoming and McDowell.
The Amendment
As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Moore introduced the amendment to the Interior Appropriations Bill, requiring the EPA to brief Congress on the water crisis, detailing what resources are available and how they could be used.
“We’ve had a lot of finger-pointing in the federal government about whose job it is to fix this,” Moore said. “This directs the EPA to report back in no less than 60 days… what are the available resources? How are you going to fix this? And then we’re going to push and force them to fix it.”
With co-sponsorship from Carol Miller and support from Shelly Moore Capito, Congressman Moore said he’s confident the bill will pass and that long-awaited intervention is on its way.
“Working with Senator Capito, she was also able to put this language into the interior bill in the Senate, which has just now passed,” he said. “So I feel highly confident that once we get this appropriations bill done, the language is absolutely going to carry, and we’re going to be taking some of the first substantive steps, at least on the federal level, to address this crisis.”
With the amendments having passed both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, it is now ready for the House floor, but it still requires full congressional passage before the 60-day clock begins. As the bill moves forward, Moore added that action is long overdue.
“It is a real human tragedy that is happening down there. In America, U.S. citizens don’t have access to clean drinking water. It’s just a tragedy, and it should not be happening.”
Moore also went on to say;
“What is the point of having an Environmental Protection Agency if they’re not protecting the environment that is poisoning the drinking water of citizens of this country? There is no point.”
As questions about federal oversight continue, state agencies are also clarifying where they stand and where their responsibilities end. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) issued a statement to WOAY addressing the amendment and their position on federal involvement.
“The WVDEP’s understanding of the amendment is that it requires the U.S. EPA to provide a briefing on resources available for the agency to assist states and counties with a high prevalence of violations of drinking water regulations,” said WVDEP Chief Communications Officer, Terry Fletcher.
The agency said it has coordinated with the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) and has already briefed the EPA on the situation. While WVDEP expressed support for federal intervention, they emphasized that the regulation of public drinking water systems falls outside its authority.
“Although WVDEP plays a critical role in protection of surface and groundwater resources in the state, enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act and drinking water regulations, as well as the regulation of public water systems, in West Virginia are under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Health, not the WVDEP.”
WOAY reached out to the Wyoming County Health Department for comment. The office referred the request to the West Virginia Department of Health, which declined an on-camera interview. The Director of Communications for the WVDH requested written questions instead of an on-camera interview due to the situation being “a multi-faceted topic.”
Newswatch will keep you updated on future communications with the WVDH.
Fletcher also noted previous investments to drinking water in the area.
“The WVDEP’s Office of Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) and Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds are a few of many avenues of funding, and have provided $97.2 million for drinking water and wastewater projects that improve public water infrastructure and expand access in Wyoming County and McDowell County, to date.”
Moore, meanwhile, says he’s staying involved, regardless of who holds jurisdiction.
“I’ve got to stick up for my people. My people are the people of West Virginia,” Moore said. “It might not be my district, but it is my state, and I’m going to do everything I can to try to help my people.”
After Months of Coverage and Outrage, Why Now?
Moore says he was first moved to act after seeing local reporting related to the crisis.
“I do have to kind of take a step back and thank you for your reporting on this. This is how I actually became aware of it. As I watched the reporting that was happening in Wyoming and McDowell County, I said, ‘my gosh, this is just terrible,’” Moore said. “The idea that they don’t have clean drinking water is just something that struck a nerve with me.”
Newswatch asked the question directly, “Why now? What changed that made this possible?”
“Kudos to you all in your reporting on this. I saw that and I mean, it almost brought me to tears what some of these folks are dealing with down there, and I know a lot of people down there. As I said, I represented the whole state,” Congressman Moore replied. “I have a lot of good friends down in southern West Virginia. I felt terrible about what they’re going through, and I reached out to a lot of legislators down there that I’m still friends with, and then working with Carol Miller’s office, we said, we’re going to do something in appropriations. Let’s work on this language together.”
None of the coverage would be possible without consistent community voices and organizations working tirelessly to keep The Mountain State wild and wonderful. Richard Altizer is one of those voices, and while the amendment has inspired hope, he and many others are weary of words alone.
“I hope the speech and amendment to the bill will bring fair and honest investigations on what happened here in the last 5-7 years with water and creeks being contaminated.” Altizer went on to say, “We hope Riley’s words will help, but past promises have been heartbreaking for our community.”
The amendment’s passage through committee marks a rare step forward, but change now relies on full congressional approval and EPA follow-through. As lawmakers debate and agencies deflect, residents across Southern West Virginia continue to live with contaminated water.
For them, the question isn’t what’s in the bill. It’s when, and whether, help will actually come.
UPDATE (7/26)
This article has been edited to clarify Newswatch’s exchange with the Department of Health and add additional context from the Department of Environmental Protection.
