The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has asked, in an April 22, 2024 filing, to intervene in a federal lawsuit that yielded a proposed settlement establishing a plan to clean up the Lower Guyandotte River watershed. The agreement proposed in federal court would settle a lawsuit environmental groups filed against the United States Environmental Protection Agency last month contending the EPA has not calculated maximum pollution amounts in the Lower Guyandotte River watershed that would allow the watershed to meet water quality standards. The groups say that because the DEP hadn’t submitted pollution reduction target plans for waters in the watershed biologically impaired due to ionic toxicity, the EPA has had a duty to act.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency and West Virginia environmental groups have reached a proposed settlement over regulator oversight of the Lower Guyandotte River watershed. The agreement resolves a lawsuit the groups filed against the EPA last month contending the EPA has not calculated maximum pollution amounts in the Lower Guyandotte River watershed that would allow the watershed to meet water quality standards through total maximum daily loads, or TMDLs.