West Virginia agriculture bill stokes fears about pesticide-spewing logging facility

West Virginia legislation that limits counties from regulating agricultural operations is stoking fears that a logging company could resurrect plans to build a toxic-spewing facility

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A West Virginia bill approved by the House of Delegates on Tuesday that limits counties from regulating agricultural operations is stoking fears that a logging company could resurrect plans to build a toxic-spewing fumigation facility in the picturesque Allegheny Mountains.

The House voted 84-16 to approve the bill that previously passed the state Senate. Both chambers have Republican supermajorities. The bill would bar counties from usurping state law on agricultural operations, including revoking such county regulations that were previously adopted.

The bill “is really just a backdoor way for non-local, corporate entities to build whatever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want, regardless of the impact on local communities,” said Hardy County resident John Rosato.

Last May, Allegheny Wood Products withdrew an application for a state air permit to build a facility off U.S. Route 48 in the Hardy County community of Baker after residents bombarded state regulators with opposition. At the time, the county commission said the company's efforts would have faced huge hurdles locally.

The facility would treat logs before they are shipped overseas. Prior to the company backing down, the state Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Air Quality said it tentatively planned to issue the permit that would let the facility emit up to nearly 10 tons (9.07 metric tons) of the pesticide methyl bromide into the atmosphere each year.