Radioactive wastes have accumulated and contaminated the abandoned facility
From an Article by Esteban Fernandez, Times West Virginian, October 16, 2023
FAIRMONT — Residents descended on last week’s Marion County Commission meeting to voice their concerns about the unsecured toxic site at the Fairmont Brine Processing Plant. The site has unsafe levels of radiation from fracking wastewater in certain spots. Toxic elements are also exposed to the environment in other places.
Beer bottles, condoms and graffiti have been found onsite, indicating that it is used as a hangout location for teens. Ken Hilsbos, a family care doctor with a practice in Fairmont, addressed these and other concerns related to the plant. He urged the Commission to take a more proactive stance and put signage up at the entrance to the plant warning the public to stay away, as well as finding some way to physically bar entry to the site.
“I think the point here now is there needs to be a warning,” Hilsbos said. “I think there’s a lot of innocent people who don’t know what they’re into up there and I want them to stay off the site.” The presence of Radium 226 and polonium specifically concerns Hilsbos. He said that an isotope like Radium 226 will linger in perpetuity within a human body, releasing radiation. Cancer and other radiation related illnesses can result.
Hilsbos said any sign that gets put up in front of the plant needs to be impactful and easy to understand. The current signage around the plant relies on jargon that isn’t easily understood by laypeople. He also advocated for using an existing gate at the entrance to the plant’s access road to prevent vehicles from pulling up further into the plant.
Currently, the county commission is hamstrung by legal questions surrounding property rights and the Environmental Protection Agency. However, County Commissioner Linda Longstreth advocated for putting up signage or even closing the existing gate. “I’m just making assumptions here, guesses to whether we can actually close that gate,” she said. “Even though it’s not our property, just to put a sign up to say, ‘This is contaminated property, stay off,’ until they do something. Now, that’s coming off the top of my head but it sounds like we can protect something until they actually do something.”
County Administrator Kris Cinalli indicated that the EPA still hasn’t said when they will erect a fence around the plant. He said as far as he knew, the EPA had started the bidding process for the fence but hasn’t selected a contractor.
Marion County Sheriff James Riffle also said at the meeting that neither the EPA nor West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection had reached out to him about increasing patrols around the plant. Fairmont Police Chief Steve Shines later said the EPA had not reached out to him either and he wasn’t aware of any request for an increased police presence at the plant.
“EPA is most likely the head authority in dealing with a situation like this,” Warren Hilsbos said to the commission. He has a background in legal studies. “But of course they have a massive jurisdiction, they’re responsible for the entire nation, all its waterways, and lands. So in some ways this is a very small part of their large portfolio, whereas this is a very large potential part of the county’s concerns, especially if this were to become a bigger, more dire situation.” After Hilsbos suggested that one course of action was to begin working with the state’s congressional delegation to resolve the matter, Commission President Ernie VanGilder sprung into action to deal with the delegation himself.
Longstreth later said in an email that the EPA has approval to enter the site today, and will meet with contractors to bid on the fence. The EPA is also putting up no trespassing signs this week as well as a temporary road barrier. She said the information came from Chris McIntire, director of Marion County Homeland Security and Emergency Management. The commission hopes this all goes forward as quickly as possible, she added. The commission’s next meeting is Oct. 25.
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Fairmont Brine Processing Plant left unattended with hazardous waste samples found
By Jalyn Lamp, WBOY 12 News, Clarksburg, WV ~ Posted: October 16, 2023
FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WBOY) — The Fairmont Brine Processing Plant caught fire in May, drawing more attention to the hazardous waste that has sat inside the abandoned facility for years.
12 News covered the fire that took place at the facility and stated within the article that first responders on the scene were not testing positive for contamination. Some time after the fire, Dr. Yuri Gorby visited the plant and tested the area himself.
“Around the site there are some rocks that are a slightly different color, like a darker brown, and those were rocks that have come from the hot zones I found that are now in the open parking lot. The tennis shoe tracks that I’ve seen in that brown, clay material, that was some of the hottest materials on the site and that was obviously taken home with somebody. You can’t get that stuff off of your shoes without thoroughly washing it,” Dr. Gorby said.
Residents of the area have expressed their concerns with the abandonment of the plant, even reaching out to the Marion County Commission. Though the commission has expressed solace towards the public, legally, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency is the only organization that has authority to do anything.
12 News reached out to the EPA to see what plans were in store regarding safety and the future of the Fairmont Brine Plant.
“EPA is aware of the situation at the Fairmont Brine facility and are working in coordination with EPA is coordinating with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP), West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (WV DHHR), Marion County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, and others to ensure a unified response to protect the public.
Our team has been on-site to evaluate emergency actions needed to stabilize the site and will be doing a thorough evaluation of any potential contamination releases to the environment. EPA will also secure the site to prevent unauthorized access and potential exposure to the public.
The agency and its contractor have implemented temporary security measures at the front entrance and lower complex including barriers and NO TRESPASSING signage and are planning to fence off the area. The response team will also regularly be on site to perform work, which should further deter public access.”
– Kelly Offner, US EPA Mid-Atlantic Region ~ An updated press release from the EPA is set to be released on Thursday with more information on the cleanup process regarding the plant, though the affects may touch more than the majority realize.
“The holding ponds up there, the top one would take raw brine, so again those are going to be hotter sentiments than the stuff that’s down in the processing plant pond down below, but both of those are flowing over the hill eventually into the Monongahela River,” Dr. Gorby said.