FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2025
Contact: Morgan King, Climate and Energy Program Manager, morgan@wvcag.org, 304-590-0014
10 Organizations to hold People’s Public Hearing on SB 592 at E-Day at the Capitol
Weakening drinking water quality protections could facilitate another water crisis
CHARLESTON, WV – The West Virginia Environmental Council, West Virginia Citizen Action Group, Sunrise Movement Huntington, the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Friends of the Cheat, the WV Surface Owners’ Rights Organization, From Below: From Below: Rising Together for Coalfield Justice, American Friends Service Committee-WV, and the WV Center on Budget and Policy will hold a People’s Public Hearing on Senate Bill 592 (SB 592) at the West Virginia State Capitol outside of the House of Delegates at noon on Monday, March 17, 2025. This hearing will coincide with Environmental Day at the State Capitol. SB 592 would remove upwards of 1,000 oil, gas, and coal tanks from inspections mandated under current law via the Aboveground Storage Tank Act.
- When: Monday, March 17, 2025, 12 pm ET
- Where: WV State Capitol Building, Upper Rotunda, House Side
- What: People’s Public Hearing on SB 592
Created in response to the 2014 water crisis when MCHM, a chemical used to clean coal, leaked into the Elk River, the drinking water source for over 300,000 people, the Aboveground Storage Tank Act regulates storage tanks to prevent another similar water crisis. Yet, over the past decade, the legislature has attempted to gut it time and time again and has succeeded. The latest attempt, SB 592, passed the Senate on Friday, March 14th. Most concerning is that SB 592 would deregulate the type of chemical tanks that caused the 2014 water crisis.
Speakers will have a maximum of two minutes to speak. Find more information about the hearing on SB 592 here.
###
