By Charles Young, The Exponent Telegram
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Austin Caperton continued to promote the expected “petrochemical renaissance” in West Virginia on Tuesday before members of the Joint Committee on Natural Gas Development during interim committee meetings of the Legislature.
Caperton was tapped by Gov. Jim Justice in August to lead the Governor’s Downstream Jobs Task Force, the primary goal of which is to develop sites for use by petrochemical manufacturers and work to attract potential investors.
“We have begun our mission,” Caperton said. “We’ve separated the function of recruiting the chemical industry back to West Virginia away from the (state) Development Office. …The amount of resources the DEP can bring to bear on this subject are significant, and significantly more than the Development Office has.” …
