Litsey To Pocahontas PSD – Please Take Alternative Sewer Plant Options Seriously

Marlinton, WV – Snowshoe homeowner David Litsey is on a mission to get the Pocahontas County Public Service District to reconsider their plans for the proposed regional sewer plant. On Tuesday, he outlined an alternative to the current plan for the Pocahontas County Commissioners. He was one of the original investors in the Silver Creek Lodge, and was involved when the resort was facing bankruptcy. It was also during this process that he met David Rigby, the engineer behind the Silver Creek waste treatment plant.

Two decades later Litsey now finds himself and his neighbors embroiled in a fight over how to properly address the waste treatment needs of residents in the Snowshoe area. The PSD wants to move forward with building a single treatment plant near Linwood at cost of around 26 million. The previously reported figure of 40 million includes a new treatment plant at Silver Creek in addition to the Linwood site. Rigby offers a proposal to create separate facilities for mountain and valley communities that includes 3 plants for around 20 million. Litsey says it’s a win-win proposal.

“What ended up in the plan was not only acceptable to all of the people who have previously objected to what the PSD was attempting to do, but it was six million dollars cheaper.”

Litsey says when this plan was presented to the PSD recently it received a less than enthusiastic reception. At least one PSD member is leery of changing the scope of the project for fear of losing state funding. Litsey says Rigby’s proposal is also more environmentally sound.

With the threat of an almost quarter million dollar West Virginia Dept of Environmental Protection fine hanging over the PSD, Litsey says he and other homeowners haven’t ruled out the possibility of future litigation. He expects that they will send letters to the DEP and the Environmental Protection Agency sometime within the next two weeks addressing both the fine, and other concerns with the current plant design.

Commissioners Martin Saffer and David Fleming thanked Litsey for the information, and urged PSD members to consider all proposals carefully.