CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Senate Natural Resources Committee is debating whether the Kanawha River should be held to a higher environmental standard so it can serve as a secondary water supply in the future for the Kanawha Valley.
The legislation (SB 167) would authorize the state Department of Environmental Protection to designate the Kanawha as a “Category A” river, meaning it would meet drinking water standards. Currently, the Kanawha is the only river in the state that does not have the “Category A” designation.
The debate took a turn Wednesday when the committee considered an amendment that would retain the Kanawha’s current designation. That prompted objections from state DEP Secretary Randy Huffman.
“The ‘Category A’ designation for the Kanawha River is the appropriate thing to do because for the future it will prevent and limit pollutants that are not going in there now from ever going into the river,” Huffman told the committee.
The impetus for raising the standard for the Kanawha came after last year’s chemical spill into the Elk River, which supplies the water for 300,000 people in the region. Designating the Kanawha as a ‘Category A’ river would be necessary to make it a secondary water supply source.
However, Rebecca Randolph with the West Virginia Manufacturers Association, said changing the Kanawha’s designation could impact businesses along the river. “We just think simply it’s too premature to apply that until we know… that an intake will be located there.”