Public Comments

I'm showing my support for the movement of this bill as everyone deserves clean water and especially with the Southern WV situation.

Place this bill on the agenda and move it forward!

The scale of investment MUST reflect current urgent need.  People cannot drink the tap water they are paying for!

Drinking water is the most basic of human needs- it must be funded. What future can we have as a state- what will economic development matter- if citizens cannot live here safely?

This is needed to help fund Southern coalfields drinking water. Please add this to the agenda, West Virginians deserve clean water.

Members of the House Energy & Public Works, Please work on passage of HB 5525. The Southern counties have had water troubles for years and deserve and need help. When considering funding, community leaders emphasize that the scale of investment must reflect the scale of the urgent need. Sincerely, Tom Degen 199 Greenwood Lane Chloe, WV 25235

Clean water is a basic need of everyone. It is time for our law makers to pass this legislation so that all our citizens can have access to clean water in their homes.

Please pass bill 5525 and prioritize funding for clean water in all of West Virginia, and especially in southern counties where resources are fewer. Access to clean water should be an essential right for all West Virginians. The fact that it isn’t means that we’ve turned a blind eye for too long to the negative impacts of  for- profit coal companies. It’s time to get our priorities straight. People over profit, health over contamination, sustainability over destruction. Thank you for your service and attention to this matter. sincerely, Colleen Harshbarger

Hello! Allowing the Revenue Shortfall Reserve Fund to be used towards public health emergencies would be extremely beneficial. Currently, I go to school in Wheeling where the flood happened this past summer.  There are still multiple buildings that are damaged, trailers that are washed out, and small bridges that are destroyed because they were washed away. There are even a couple of roads where they have had to put up a stop light up because one lane has been washed away. Allowing money to be allocated for instances like this would make lives easier for current residents, encourage more people to move here, and could even bring businesses because they would have some security in an event of a public health crisis. This would also be beneficial to the people of southern WV who do not have clean water. Without clean water, people become sick and we can not bring businesses to WV. Money from this fund can help us do this. Please advocate for this bill, or allocate money for this public health crisis fund in a different part of the budget. We need this to keep our residents safe. Thank you! Have an amazing day, Nell Friend

Hello, I find that clean water in WV is extremely important. Access to clean water is a human right, and should not be a problem in America. Without clean water we cannot invite businesses to WV so we are without jobs. We are also poisoning our own citizens, which puts a strain on our already over worked healthcare system. These issues can be avoided if we prioritize clean water for all of West Virginia, making our state the wonderful place we all know it can be. This issue has been overlooked for decades, so please end the struggle and take action. Thank you!   Nell Friend

Water infrastructure improvement in southern West Virginia is long overdue. Do the right thing and provide the $250 million required make the necessary repairs.

As a constituent living in Frankford,WV I find it to be unconscionable that in various areas of WV people continue to lack safe drinking water. Please support Bills HB5525 and 5585, so that ALL citizens of our wonderful sate can trust the water coming out of their taps. Thank you in advance for your efforts on behalf of all West Virginians no matter where they live or what their income is!!

I urge you to take action to protect our water. Clean water is fundamental to public health, economic stability, and community well-being. These conversations aren’t abstract policy debates — they represent real families, real costs, and real consequences. Thank you

I urge you to take action to protect our water. Clean water is fundamental to public health, economic stability, and community well-being. These conversations aren’t abstract policy debates — they represent real families, real costs, and real consequences. Thank you

Honorable Legislators, It is time to do the right thing! Fully fund the water infrastructure bill to provide the necessary steps to secure clean water in Southern WV. We are not a third world country. WV so pride themselves on having clean water in a pristine state. Please, please, please pass the bill to bring clean water to areas in WV which are in a water crisis!

Clean water IS A RIGHT, NOT AN AFTERTHOUGHT, after cow towing to the coal barons , who have robbed our communities for decades! Please do what’s right, and assure the people of the Southern Coalfields that they matter and that they can have clean water

West Virginia is failing her people by allowing her residents no access to clean, potable water in public water lines to their homes. Water is a necessity for life. We must drink to stay alive, and we must use it for bathing and for cleaning to stay healthy. One of the most vital needs to people is water. People should not have to go get buckets of it from a spring. The elderly and disabled cannot even do this much. And to have to pay for water over food or a bill is not what West Virginia is about. We try to take care of her own, but folks need clean water immediately.

I kindly encourage you to pass this bill, which will enable the use of Revenue Shortfall Reserve Funds in times of public health emergencies. It also aims to recognize the challenges faced by several counties' Public Service Districts and water boards by designating them as public health emergencies. This designation will help these districts access much-needed funds from the Revenue Shortfall Reserve Fund to better serve their communities. Thank you

Please put HB 5585 on the agenda.

Please vote yes on HB 5648.  It has become quite evident that the monopolized utility consumers of West Virginia are under-represented in matters pertaining to rates and tariffs.  Likewise, the ability and resources of working class families to advocate for themselves pales to that of multimillion dollar companies which have for-profit or pecuniary interest business models. The Consumer Advocate Division is often our only hope of leveling the playing field of representation to a political body for what should be apolitical missions and goals, especially related to public health. Please vote YES! Thank you sincerely.  

I urge you to place HB 5585 on the House Energy and Public Works agenda immediately. Four southern West Virginia counties have the highest rates of water safety violations in the nation. This is an emergency! Water is life: HELP!

To whom it may concern, I am in support of putting forward this for consideration on the docket. I have been a lifelong West Virginian and have moved several times because of my life as a child of a clergy person. In every community that I have lived in, I have experienced insecurity of water safety due to natural and unnatural causes. It would be a great service to West Virginia residents to have a backup of reserve funds for emergency situations, such as water security. It is absolutely an essential human need. Thank you for your time and your efforts in keeping West Virginians afloat when disaster strikes.

Clean safe water is an urgent need in West Virginia.  We cannot expect West Virginia to grow and prosper if our people do not have safe clean water to drink, bathe and clean in their homes. Do what is right and address this problem.  It has been ignored by our legislature long enough.

I’m urging the members of the House Committee on Energy and Public Works to support this bill to provide critical aid to citizens in southern WV who need access to clean water.  This is a basic human resource that the rest of us enjoy.  Let’s make sure our southern neighbors have what they need. Thank you! Virginia Aultman-Moore

This is your chance to do something DECENT for the people of West Virginia, instead of leaving us to fend for ourselves

I grew up in our southern coalfields. I live in a company house next to a creek that ran orange. I’m asking you to support Bill 5585. We all deserve clean water!

Please represent our state well and make sure everyone in WV has safe, clean, drinking water.

Please move this bill to the house floor. Clean water is needed for all West Virginia residents.  The southern coal fields need the funds to achieve this. When water comes out of their taps black, brown,red and unusable. This is a health emergency.  Thank you all for your attention to this matter. Judy Grose

Clean drinking water is a basic human right that the state should help to support!  Please pass this bill.

I ask that the members put your self in the position of the people in McDowell County. Imagine this is your water. You cook with it. You take a long hot bath in it. You watch your children play in it. I ask you look at this as if it's your own tap. One day if we don't fix it, it will be your tap. The rivers in west virginia fill and flow down this whole coast. Please do the right thing. We need your help.

HOUSE BILL 5585 MUST BE PASSED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. ALL THIS ACTIVITY ABOUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN OUR STATE IS HYPOCRISY WHEN THE ENTIRE POPULATION DOES NOT HAVE CLEAN RUNNING WATER! THIS GOP LEGISLATURE HAS SKEWED PRIORITIES WHEN BASIC NEEDS FOR SURVIVAL ARE NOT ADDRESSED. AIR, WATER, FOOD, FARMS, ROADS, SCHOOLS. STOP THE GIMMICKRY AND POLITICS - YOUR AMBITIONS ARE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AND PROBABLY YOUR DONORS AS WELL.

All of West Virginia deserves to have clean water. It’s a shame we are the poorest state even though we were sucked dry of the coal and other resources in our state with no say or reparations and now stuck with poisoned water. Our leadership needs to stand up for it’s citizens or pull a chair up to the table and drink the brown water coming from our taps

Emergency funding exists for moments like this. When communities are facing urgent infrastructure and public health challenges, we must act swiftly and decisively. Passing this bill will allow critical resources to be directed where they are most needed — to protect health, restore trust, and strengthen communities.

This is not a partisan issue. It is about public health, dignity, and doing right by the people of West Virginia.

Please pass Bill 5585 and ensure that all West Virginians have access to safe, clean drinking water.

Thank you.

the coalfields of southern wv have been dealing with this water crisis longer than I’ve been alive. My whole life, my family has had to carry water and buy clean water. We can’t shower without painful rashes. Our clothes are destroyed due to this! Please, please we are urging you to help us!

The people of the southern coalfields should not be an afterthought. They need clean water now. Imagine bathing in water that burns your skin, or needing to use a local waterfall to clean surgery wounds because you can’t use your tap to do that. Imagine having to pay high rates for water to can’t even use and having to spend $150 a month on bottled water alone. Safe, clean water is not a privilege, it is a basic human need. This is a public health emergency and needs to be treated as such. Please allocate emergency funding now to fix these infrastructure problems - because what exists is not just infrastructure failure, it is moral failure. “I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink….” - Jesus

The people of WV deserve to have access to clean water. Being in 2026 this SHOULDN’T be an issue we are still fighting. Imagine being expected to consume the water that comes out of the faucet when it’s brown, because that’s what people in places like Gary and War WV deal with daily. From southern WV to the northern mountain of Preston county, access to clean water isn’t easy for all, bypassing this bill you will make this basic necessity a reality for people after all these years.

5585 addresses the LIFE OR DEATH urgency of contaminated or unavailability of potable water and MUST BE BROUGHT OUT OF COMMITTEE to proceed! Please PLEASE move this bill and bring it through the steps for passage!!!

The people of the coalfields of West Virginia put the gold on the dome of the capital, and mined the coal that created the steel this state and country was built upon. These folks now cannot bathe, clean, or drink the water coming from their taps. That is a fact. You know it. And you know you owe them more than you owe the energy companies that contributed to your campaigns. Do the right thing.

It is time to get this bill moving.  Water is life.

HB 5585, the key that unlocks the door to providing emergency water infrastructure funding for the southern coalfields, needs to be placed on the House Energy & Public Works agenda asap!  The urgency for clean water in not only my home county of Fayette, but as well as the county where I work, McDowell, is critical.  Please put this bill on the agenda! Sincerely, Debra Elmore Constituent Tax payer Voter    

This bill needs to pass. Water is life.

As a deeply concerned native of West Virginia deeply invested in the well-being of our communities, I strongly urge the West Virginia Legislature to prioritize and swiftly pass House Bill 5585 in its current form. This legislation represents a critical step forward by authorizing the use of Revenue Shortfall Reserve Funds to address public health emergencies, particularly those tied to failing water infrastructure in southern West Virginia. The designation of struggling Public Service Districts and water boards in counties like McDowell, Wyoming, Boone, Logan, Mingo, Lincoln, Mercer, Fayette, and Raleigh as public health emergencies is not just warranted, it's overdue. Immediate passage is essential to unlock emergency funding that can finally begin to rectify decades of neglect, preventing further harm to public health, economic stability, and quality of life in these underserved regions. This water crisis in southern West Virginia is a dire public health emergency that demands urgent intervention. For instance, in McDowell County, residents endure foul-smelling, discolored water that stains clothes and sinks, often contaminated with lead, fecal matter, iron, manganese, or methane, forcing many to rely on bottled water or roadside springs for basic needs. Aging infrastructure, originally built by coal companies in the early 20th century and later abandoned, has led to pumps failing, tanks rotting, and pipes disintegrating, with communities like Anawalt facing a $7 million shortfall for essential upgrades, including a new water tank to serve 200-250 households. In Wyoming County, brown and black tap water, contaminated streams, and weekly line breaks have persisted since 2019, exacerbated by severe flooding that damages already vulnerable systems and introduces further pollutants. The 2014 Elk River chemical spill, which contaminated drinking water for 300,000 residents across nine counties, causing widespread health issues like rashes, nausea, and vomiting, along with a $61 million economic hit in the first month alone, underscores the catastrophic risks of inaction. These examples illustrate a pattern of chronic disinvestment in coal-era systems, where floods routinely contaminate lines in flood-prone valleys, and basic access to clean water remains unreliable for generations. Without emergency funding from the state's reserve funds, as enabled by HB 5585, these communities will continue to suffer preventable hardships, including health risks from unsafe water and the economic burden of makeshift solutions like filters that fail under sludge and rust. Passing this bill immediately is not merely a policy choice, it's a moral imperative to safeguard the health and dignity of West Virginians who have waited far too long for relief. I implore lawmakers to act without delay and ensure that southern West Virginia's water infrastructure receives the resources it desperately needs.

House Bill 5585 I grew up in the southern coalfields so I know firsthand the condition of the water there. When I was a child, 70 years ago, the water was yellow and smelled like sulfur, it tasted awful. Since then the water has only gotten worse. It is time for our state legislators to take this issue seriously and do something now! Don’t just put a bandaide on the problem, fix it. People deserve to have clean water.

This bill is incredibly important and should be expedited through committee so that it can reach the floor and pass.  Water infrastructure is severely needed in these counties. This bill is a great start and letting it die on the vine will cause great harm to the residents of the coalfield counties.

Our neighbors in southern coalfield regions have been living without basic services for far too long, and the most precious resource they need is access to reliable, clean, safe drinking water. These areas have been exploited and their wealth extracted by industry and government. We owe them, at the very least, investment in their communities and their health. For reasons of morality, and for reasons of public health, I implore our representatives to support this bill.

Put this important bill on the agenda! We need these funds available to the public. Protect our precious water.

West Virginia deserves clean safe water

All West Virginians deserve clean drinking water

I urge the House Committee on Energy & Public Works to place HB 5585 on its agenda.  "Water is Life" is not an empty slogan.  It should be the primary consideration of you who represent all of us here in the Mountain State.

Please allow for these funds to be allocated for public health emergencies. West Virginians need access to clean water and it is time for the state to act.

Letter from the WVMA and WVEUG Opposing House Bill 5626   Chairman Anderson: The West Virginia Manufacturers Association (WVMA) and the West Virginia Energy Users Group (WVEUG) express their serious concerns with House Bill 5626, which would alter how utility rates are set by allowing utilities to base rate increases on projected, future costs rather than actual data. Specifically, the bill authorizes the use of a “Future Test Year,” defined as the 12-month period beginning when new rates take effect, and directs the Public Service Commission (PSC) to rely on projected levels of costs, revenues, and rate base during that forward-looking period. In addition, the legislation permits utilities to include construction work in progress (CWIP) or allowances for funds used during construction directly in rate base calculations, meaning that the utility can recover these costs – with a return – before a project is actually providing anything of value to consumers. In practical terms, the bill accelerates rate increases and cost recovery to the advantage of the utilities and shifts financial risk from utilities (and utility shareholders) to consumers. In so doing, at a time when utility rates have increased year over year with no end in sight, House Bill 5626 will harm all utility customers including manufacturing and industry, small business, senior citizens, and the most vulnerable West Virginians. • Regulatory Background – Utilities in West Virginia operate as governmentsanctioned monopolies providing essential services such as electric, natural gas, water, and sewer. In exchange for that monopoly status, utilities are subject to regulation to ensure service is delivered safely, reliably, and at reasonable rates. This is the core of the regulatory compact and the utilities’ legal “obligation to serve.” Under this compact, utilities are permitted to recover their prudently incurred costs and investments, plus an authorized return, subject to oversight by the PSC. Because these utilities have no competitors, their customers are captive ratepayers who must rely entirely on the PSC’s regulatory process for protection against unreasonable rates. That regulatory framework includes important safeguards. Utilities typically support rate requests with a Historic Test Year reflecting actual, incurred expenses. They must prove those expenses were prudently spent, and they may only recover investments that are “used and useful” in providing service. This creates the so-called “regulatory lag” to ensure that consumers pay only for verified, prudent, and used-and-useful investments and that utilities bear the risk of their investment decisions. House Bill 5626 would weaken these longstanding protections in two significant ways: • Future Test Year – The bill would allow utilities to set rates based on projected, future expenses and revenues rather than actual, historical costs. This means rates could be increased for costs not yet incurred and verified, and for investments not yet providing service. It reduces incentives for cost discipline, shifts financial risk from shareholders to captive ratepayers, and accelerates rate increases at a time when utility rates have already risen dramatically. • Construction Work in Progress (CWIP) – The bill would also permit utilities to include construction work in progress in base rates, allowing recovery of costs, plus a return, while a project is still under construction. This would require customers to pay for projects like new power plants and transmission lines while they are being built and while they run the risk of cost overruns, delays, or even abandonment. Allowing CWIP in base rates effectively shifts investment risk from utilities to ratepayers and has been described as a hidden tax on consumers. Supporters of the bill may argue these mechanisms are used in other states or that they reduce regulatory lag and encourage infrastructure investment. But unlike West Virginia, many of those states provide customer choice, which mitigates monopoly power. Moreover, utilities already have a statutory obligation to invest in infrastructure necessary to provide safe and reliable service. They should not receive additional incentives or risk protection for fulfilling duties they are legally required to perform. At a time when West Virginia households, manufacturers, small businesses, and senior citizens are already under increasing pressure from rising utility rates and when substantial transmission and generation investments are anticipated, adopting policies that accelerate rate increases and shift investment risk from shareholders to captive consumers is unsound. For these reasons, we respectfully oppose House Bill 5626.

Every single person voting for this bill should  be thinking about the people who voted them into office, to begin with. WE THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF WV should be represented properly and our will should be done!  Hiding future problem from the people of WV is immoral!! We deserve to know EVERYTHING that comes along with these "Data ceters"!! You were NOT put into office to hide important information from us, but to fight for/ with US! Clean water is one of our states most important resources'. It is far more important than any data center. To think that there is a proposed BILL that includes hiding details from us.... that is VERY DISTRIBUTING!! We need to FOCUS on passing legislation to protect out water resources instead of hiding info!!! THINK ABOUT YOUR KIDS' GRANDCHILDREN!!

I am respectfully urging the House Committee on Energy & Public Works to place HB 5585 on its agenda as soon as possible.

I think about how disruptive it can be to lose access to clean water in my own home for a few days and implore the committee to do the same. Imagine it persisting for weeks…months…years. Decades.

The effects on your family. Your children. Your parents and grandchildren, your pets and livestock, your friends and neighbors. 

What has been happening to our fellow West Virginians in the southern Coalfields is an atrocity. And beyond the most important aspect of this — the people directly affected — what does this say about who and what West Virginia is to everyone else watching?

Just last week, I was talking with a development economist from France who moved to the U.S. (not in WV) in 2023, and she, too, was well acquainted with the “water crisis in southern WV,” noting how sad the situation is.

We say all the time, with lots of pride, that we take care of one another here in West Virginia. Let’s prove it.

I urge you to prioritize HB 5585 so that the our neighbors in the West Virginia Coalfields can live in safe and healthy conditions.

Citizens of WV DEMAND YOU TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION to give us clean drinking water!!!!!! We are sick and tired of having to ask for the BARE MINIMUM. DO SOMETHING!!! OUR CHILDREN AND ELDERLY ARE SICK!!! WE WILL REMEMBER YOU IN ELECTIONS. REMEMBER WHO YOU WORK FOR!!!!!!!

Humans need clean water. Do your damn job and fix it.

Please, I implore you to fight for this with everything you have. This is a basic human right and it is outrageous that it's even a debate to begin with! Every living thing deserves clean water! Weat Virginia deserves better!

Please, I implore you to fight for this with everything you have. This is a basic human right and it is outrageous that it's even a debate to begin with! Every living thing deserves clean water! Weat Virginia deserves better!

I am respectfully urging the House Committee on Energy & Public Works to place HB 5585 on its agenda as soon as possible. I know people living in counties affected by the dire water situation in MacDowell County. The need for clean water is urgent. Thank you for your consideration. Jane Kelton

I oppose HB4983! West Virginians deserve full transparency from the Data Centers being forced into our communities!

Please give this bill your immediate consideration.  Safe drinking water is not a luxury.  Safe drinking water is essential.  It is intolerable that parts of our state currently lack safe, clean drinking water.

I have been following this sad situation for a couple years now. I feel those who are advocates for this poor region, have finally started getting their voices heard. So, we beg of you - PLEASE hear them and DO something about this morally unacceptable disgrace of their water situation!! Please pass HB 5585 to begin relieving this situation. These are folks that have been exploited for decades and decades, and have mined our coal - leaving behind a horrible situation of filthy, unusable, polluted water. IT'S TIME!! We're watching all over the country for what you all will do. Thank you.

Please support all West Virginians in their need for access to clean, potable water. Be the legislators our state needs and stop selling us out to people that don't live here or care about us. Totally disgusted in the behavior we are seeing in our government. What type of future will our children have when it's all been poisoned? Do better! Thank you.

Our hills and mountains normally run with clean and clear water that our people have utilized for generations.  I understand that West Virginia has a resource that we take for granted in our water.  The extraction industries have created great damage to our water supply and it is important that they be restored to their original purity so that people can live safely and we can provide clean water to others in the future.

I beg you to place HB 5585 on your agenda. The water crisis in southern WV is in urgent need of attention for the health and safety of its citizens. Sincerely, Debra Elmore

I urge you to place HB5585 on your agenda! Southern WV is in dire need of immediate help!

Our government was purported by President Abraham Lincoln to be "of the people, by  the people, and for the people," yet this bill is none of those things. While  I am against having data centers ravage our beautiful state and cost our people and environment dearly, I believe there should be full transparency about them. If studies show harmful effects, we should be allowed to see those studies. In fact, *everything* about data centers should be in the hands of the people. Perhaps a ballot measure would have made more sense after fully informing the public about what's at stake. But it is egregious and un-American to make these decisions across the board without having the people weigh in. And it is MORE than egregious to hide facts/not be transparent. Please do not pass this bill. It will hurt West Virginians, it will make us lose (more) faith in our elected officials, and it will end up costing us dearly. When will our government stand up for US over corporations? We live here. We deserve truth.  We deserve transparency. Thank you for allowing me to comment.

Dear Members of the House Energy and Public Works Committee, I believe that the rules for HB 4983 should be amended to require more transparency from big data centers. West Virginians deserve to know the basic facts about what is being proposed in order to make their voices heard and protect their communities from negative consequences. This includes full disclosure regarding environmental and community impacts such as expected air emissions, water usage and discharge, noise levels, traffic impacts, operating schedule, emergency-service needs, and land-use conflicts. Sincerely, Evelyn Alberty Charles Town, WV 25414

As a concerned citizen, I urge you to place HB 5585 on the agenda. This bill is critically important and I ask for your support.

Please support this bill. Clean water should be for all.

HB 5585 is critical for the health and safety of southern West Virginia. They need funding for water now. There are areas where water is so full of chemicals it burns their skin when they try to bath in it. Southern WV has way higher cancer rates than northern WV partially due to the toxic chemicals in their drinking water. Without immediate funding and support to fix these water systems many more residents here will have to suffer with cancer and die. I urge the House Committee on Energy & Public Works to place HB 5585 on its agenda. This bill is the crucial emergency funding piece needed to bring immediate help to southern WV.

Every West Virginian deserves clean water. If the rainy day fund should be used for anything, then at the very least, basic human necessities must be met.

The West Virginia Association of Counties wholeheartedly supports HB 5525, the measure to establish the Southern West Virginia Clean Fund Act of 2026 and the West Virginia Clean Water Fund for the counties of Boone, Fayette, Greenbrier, Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers, Wayne, and Wyoming. These counties have been the longstanding backbone of West Virginia's economy, powering America with our abundant, divine supply of coal that makes us the greatest nation on earth. The good people who mined that coal and their resultant generations of families deserve clean drinking water that ensures good health for our citizens; healthy streams for our fish and wildlife, vital for recreation; and which so important for attracting jobs & employment. Fresh, clean water is a right. County officials across our state stand strong with our friends and neighbors in Southern West Virginia in that this right be maintained always.

To Whom It May Concern I am writing to implore you to advance this bill. I no longer live in West Virginia because my fight to protect a community’s water source from a mountain top removal mining permit caused me to be ostracized by many people in Mercer County and negatively affected an appointment as Library Director at Princeton Public Library. When people are begging and willing to alter their life so drastically to help others obtain and/or maintain clean water, it is up to you to listen and do your due diligence to further that request.

People are sick and dieing because of the horrible water they are forced to try to use. They need help greater than any of the communities individually can provide. Please vote for this measure.

I am writing to implore all of you to reject this bill and trash it! Southern West Virginia residents are without water. Water is important for humans to thrive. Almost all species on Earth depend upon water to survive. Data Centers will pollute the air and water. Data Centers will deplete our water supply. If you love this beautiful state and love thy neighbor, than you'll reject this bill and stop pushing harmful bills.

We want transparency about data centers. We deserve to know the impact on our lives and health. We don't want any data centers in our state.

House bill 5585 should be added to the legislative agenda.  The lack of clean water in areas of southern West Virginia is a public health emergency.  This bill should be passed to allow emergency funding to fully address this issue.

Coal dug in Southern WV has given so much to the state and the nation but at the cost of our most precious natural resource, our water.  Now it’s time to give back to the coalfields.  Our families need clean, drinkable water to survive.

Our local communities need to know all about water usage and disposal of waste water!  This should not be a secret.  Full disclosure about water, air, lighting and noise should be provided in advance for all local people to read and understand....and protest if needed.   Please put OUR citizens first....and far ahead of corporations and billionaires eager to make more money, while providing a handful of jobs and ruining our home state ( while paying little or no taxes ).  Remember timbering and coal.....do we never learn?

The people need access to clean healthy water!

Give the people access to clean healthy water!

You need to pay attention to all the failed water systems in the state. This should be your first priority. The southern counties gave all and are left with unclean water.

The  smell  of  dicsel  runs  in the river  in Mingo  county Verner  West  Virginia. Why  does this keep  happening.?  The water  treatment  reeaks of  chlorine. Cost  for  public service  cost keeps  rising  through  the roof  but  never  any  improvements .   Why  does West  Virginia  (Southern)  have the worst  water , sewage, trash, and roads  in  the whole  country?

I urge you to support and pass this legislation. Many of our people are suffering from unsafe water. Public water systems are being crushed under the weight of prior poor or lack of legislation regarding public funds used for infrastructure . Many communities in our state are in crisis and the government’s lack of action and accountability make us look bad to outside investors.  Please support and pass this needed emergency funding.

What has been allowed to happen to our residents in the coal fields and their drinking water is shameful and abominable.  We must provide clean drinking water to our people.  Their basic needs must be met.  I can think of no other greater emergency than the lack of clean drinking water, so please consider releasing these funds to support water in WV to those counties like McDowell who need it the most.

I'm begging the House Committee on Energy & Public Works to place HB 5585 on its agenda. This is a crucial emergency funding piece needed to bring immediate help to southern WV.

Clean water for all West Virginia should be a no-brainer. With respect and with the understanding that this matter will take time, knowledge and money,  we have to insure that current water problems improve and that, when water emergencies occur, we have the proper state oversight and mechanisms to provide relief and corrective measures. If it's every man for himself, why have a state government at all? The common good, the health of our citizens, and the future of our state is at stake. Please vote in favor of HB 5585.

I am writing to request that you vote against HB4983.  Sadly, our long state history is to give preference to out of state interests and corporations. This was certainly evident when the logging industry denuded our mountains of timber leaving only stumps and mud. This was certainly evident when coal companies first arrived and left our streams polluted with toxins that we are still dealing with today. And now, this bill will further threaten our air quality, our groundwater supply, our quality of life and local infrastructure. I ask you as a property owner in Tucker County and a lifelong resident of West Virginia to do what is best for our communities and residents and not what is best for yet again out of state interests who will devastate yet again our environment. I would only ask that you do this not for my generation but for my grandchildren and their children so that they may enjoy and love this state as I and many others do. Respectfully, J Keith Wade

Please move this bill forwards z it is so very important. Southern WV needs clean water!!

Please submit this bill and help the people of Southern West Virginia to finally get clean water I do not understand why this bill has not been given top priority. Can someone explain this to me what is more important than clean water?

I consider it urgent that this Bill be brought to the floor!

Please do all that is possible to bring clean water to the children and families of Southern West Virginia. We are depending on your integrity and good will.

I urge the House Committee on Energy & Public Works to place HB 5585 on its agenda...this bill is the crucial emergency funding piece needed to bring immediate help to southern WV.  Safe water for WV!