W.Va. PSC Opens Investigation Into Paden City Water System
Shelley Hanson Trending
The West Virginia Public Service Commission has opened an investigation into the Paden City water system.
On a motion from legal staff on Oct. 4, the PSC agreed to consider whether Paden City and its municipal water works are distressed or failing utilities. Residents and businesses in the city spent nearly a month between August and September unable to use city water after a pump valve malfunctioned at a water treatment plant, allowing increased levels of a chemical commonly used in dry cleaning — Tetrachloroethylene or PCE — to enter the system.
The PSC’s legal staff said it had discovered through investigation that Paden City residents have dealt with PCE contamination issues for years.
"The assertions put forth by staff justify further examination of the utilities' ongoing contaminant issue, particularly with regard to whether the utilities are capable of ensuring the effective treatment of the contaminant and whether additional issues exist regarding the fiscal, managerial and operational conditions of the utilities," the PSC order said.
"Ensuring that state residents have access to clean water is one of the essential duties of the Public Service Commission, which is why we take these cases so seriously," PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane said. "This warrants our investigation to determine the facts."
Paden City is a municipal utility that provides sewer service to 1,161 customers. The Paden City Municipal Water Works provides water utility service to 1,204 customers in Wetzel and Tyler counties.
Return to theintelligencer.net later for more on this developing story.