Call To Action: Demand Jim Justice and his Sec of the WV DEP follow the law to protect our health and welfare! This will take less than 10 minutes. You can do it while waiting for your Netflix to load up! Scroll immediately down to the red text if you only have 5 minutes.
What to do:
Holler at Governor Jim Justice and tell him that no one is above the law. Not the WV DEP Secretary—not even the governor! Demand his administration follow WV law Chapter 22 article 1, and that they protect our rights guaranteed by the WV Constitution to a government that promotes our “happiness and safety.” Tell Justice to either make his personal friend, newly-appointed WV DEP Secretary Austin Caperton, follow the law and protect us—or to fire him and find someone who will!
Why do it:
“Less than two weeks after taking office, Gov. Jim Justice’s administration quietly deleted permit language intended to protect residents in West Virginia’s natural gas regions from excessive noise and bright lights from compressor stations and other facilities that are springing up across those communities,” as reported by Ken Ward of the Charleston Gazette.
Last session some heroes in the legislature defeated a bill that would have prevented residents from taking legal action to protect our quality of life. We would not have had any legal recourse for permitted operations unless the noise was loud enough to cause physical injury. Luckily, some WV lawmakers realized no one should have to be actually bleeding from the ears before getting help! They understood that WV’s peace must not be drowned out by screaming diesel engines and heavy equipment, and that we can’t allow our properties devalued just so that some wealthy exec from Colorado–or even from WV—can add to his millions.
The extraction industry called that the “Help Antero Bill,” and actually likened residents who wanted their homes protected to “a pack of hyenas”!
This is not a hyperbole, that is literally what they said. Take a moment to realize just how brazen that is, and how terribly, tragically skewed your priorities must be when they are willing to call West Virginians animals and openly admit that a bill has been specifically designed to allow an abusive company to assault us so they can put even more in their pockets!
We want good neighbors, not industrial invaders!
But an industrial invasion is just what the Justice administration has now facilitated as one of its first acts. You mad, yet? Coal Baron Justice appointed family friend and coal exec Austin Caperton to head up WV’s Department of Environmental Protection… and now the only thing they seem to be concerned about is paving the way for wealthy Resource Barons like themselves to profit at our expense.
As far as they’re concerned, if we love our quiet porches, our starry nights, our mountain views, and peace of mind… or even if we just want to protect our property values, it’s just too bad!
HOLLER NOW:
Send a message to Governor Justice that West Virginians demand WV DEP Secretary Caperton follow West Virginia law and protect the health and welfare of West Virginians.
Tell Jim Justice:
“Make sure Secretary Caperton follows WV Code 22-1, and protects West Virginians from industrial abuses—or fire him and find someone who will! You’re not above the law, and neither is your friend Caperton!”
Be civil, but don’t be afraid to give him a piece of your mind, either. You can bet he’d care if a compressor station outside the Greenbrier began driving his customers away and eating into his profits! He should care about your neighborhood, too!
Write Jim Justice a message (click here)
OR
Phone Jim Justice’s office:
304-558-2000
888-438-2731
Have a few more minutes?
You can do this while your bag of popcorn is popping in the microwave. Find your legislators and their contact information at this link, and tell them that you’re sick and tired of cronyism in WV. Tell them you want Justice and his friend Caperton to protect your health and welfare as WV Code 22-1 requires!
Want to do even more?
Support good journalism!
The only reason we know about this abuse of the public trust is because the Charleston Gazette employs investigative reporters. The Justice team is secretive and even went so far as to fire the Communications Director for the WV DEP, with no replacement.
If you’re one of the lucky ones with some money, put it to good use and fight back! Subscribe to the Charleston Gazette to support this journalism, and let publisher Susan Shumate know the type of stories that you value.
The Appalachian Oracle 