The West Virginia Legislature is showing little sign through a quarter of the 2023 state regular legislative session of strengthening air quality and other environmental protections in a state of high concentrations of air pollution from chemical, gas and oil infrastructure. Instead, a bill introduced by House Energy and Manufacturing Committee Chair Bill Anderson, R-Wood, would keep the state Department of Environmental Protection from using community air monitoring data for regulatory purposes.
Despite significant community opposition, West Virginia environmental regulators have approved a permit that will allow a facility that was the site of a fatal 2020 chemical explosion to return to