By Sierra Marling, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — While regulatory agents and the West Virginia Legislature have worked to create solutions for the water quality crisis facing the Mountain State, those working at public service districts are facing a crisis of their own — one where aging pipes, regulatory gaps, and funding shortfalls collide. What’s more, the pressure on these employees is higher as the state’s utilities increasingly becoming privatized.
Case in point:
Chris Varney was hired four weeks ago as general manager of the Mingo County Public Service District in Naugatuck, Mingo County, which serves approximately 4,700 people. He hasn’t had a day off in those four weeks.
Instead, Varney handled a major underground water line break located in Dans Branch, which left that community and two others without normal water service. This was a particularly difficult situation, he said, because the PSD’s maps pre-date the construction of U.S. 119.
And that was just on his first day.