KANAWHA FALLS, WV (WOAY) – As the sale of several Fayette County public service districts to West Virginia American water seemingly nears the finish line, customers of the troubled Kanawha Falls Public Service District are awaiting needed repairs.
August 15 marked the fourth anniversary of disastrous flooding that destroyed sections of Kanawha Falls PSD’s sewage collection systems, including around 2 miles of the Mount Olive Correctional Center’s sewer line. That damaged line continues to leak sewage from the state’s largest prison into Smithers creek.
Now that the sale of four Fayette County PSDs has been approved by the West Virginia Public Service Commission, most simply want to know when these health and environmental hazards will be fixed.
Kanawha Falls PSD had plans ready to implement and had submitted a proposed project schedule to the WV DEP indicating they anticipated all repairs to damage resulting from the 2022 flood would be completed by April of 2028.
When the Fayette County Commission began the sale process, the districts plan’s stalled, since they would be paid for with public money and the district is in the final stages of being sold to a private company.
This means the repairs will be done by the soon to be owners of the damaged system, West Virgina American Water.
In January of 2026, the company testified before the Public Service Commission that it would take at least four years to design, plan, permit, and complete the repairs.
WOAY reached out to American water to see if this timeline was still accurate and received this response:
“West Virginia American Water continues to evaluate the current condition and options to speed up repairs and replacement in Cannelton Hollow and has been working with the West Virginia DEP in this effort. At this time, we do not have an updated timeline but are pursuing options to finalize the purchase and begin work as soon as possible.”
Cannelton Hollow is not the only area dealing with raw sewage issues in the district.
Clayton Koch, who lives on Reinhart Road in Glen Ferris, won a complaint filed with the PSC against Kanawha Falls PSD, regarding a broken pump allowing sewage from homes on Reinhart Road to leak out onto the hillside and eventually reach the Kanawaha River.
“[I’m] disappointed right now, because I thought when I went through the Public Service Commission and I won in our favor that we’d see things done, but the 90 day period is up. Nothing has been accomplished,” he said.
The PSC order finding in his favor states “It is not reasonable for the district to refuse to do a relatively inexpensive and simple fix for three customers on Reinhart Road until it can proceed with the massive project to permanently fix its entire system.”
On September 3, 2026, Kanawha Falls PSD entered into an interim emergency water and waste water operation and maintenance agreement with West Virginia American Water.
Part of that agreement states, “In the event that the district is unable to handle emergency repair, such as… failure of treatment plant equipment (including without limitation, on pump station repairs)… the company will make repairs… all with the objective to address emergent health and safety issues arising in the system that are affecting the district’s customers.”
“I would hope American water would get on this and start doing something”, Koch said.
Over four years in, the health and environmental problems persist.
“Governor Morrisey, he should be jumping all over this to try to get votes, but he’s losing a lot of votes. He don’t seem like he cares to come up and take a look at it and try to get it fixed,” Koch said.
WOAY has reached out to both the Fayette County Commission and Governor Morrisey asking if they are satisfied with the status of the much-needed repairs to stop the health and environmental hazards, and neither have yet to respond to our inquiry.
In an email, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Chief Communications Officer Terry Fletcher said the department is working with West Virginia America Water to bring the district into compliance.
“The WVDEP is coordinating with WVAW and has conducted joint on-site visits to discuss plans for repairs and returning the system to environmental compliance if the transfer is finalized. WVAW is proactively identifying and working on solutions,” he said.
