Residents report heavy dust, health issues from data center construction

Mason County residents said living beside a construction zone for a large scale data center has not been pleasant. "Our house was covered in dust one day. The visibility was maybe 30 feet. You could stand on my back porch and you couldn't even see the dog kennel on the other side," Joshua Jeffers said. When neighbors brought these concerns to us, we reached out to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection asking what has been done to control the dust in the area. The DEP responded saying, "we have received three dust complaints on April 18 and April 27. The DAQ investigated onsite April 30 and contacted the responsible party. They noted they had mechanical issues with their watering tankers which are used to suppress dust from construction equipment earlier that week and made the necessary repairs." "I called the project manager and asked them if he could shut down. He said they had no dust mitigation plans. They had no water trucks. The DEP confirmed that they had no operation on their water trucks," Jeffers said. Neighbors also shared air quality concerns with the amount of dust that has covered their properties. The DEP went on to say, "The DAQ conducted subsequent inspections on May 14, 27, and 28 and the watering tankers were working. No dust was found leaving the site. The DAQ will continue to investigate any similar complaints that are received and take appropriate action." Jeffers said some residents have also reported alleged health issues from the construction. "One of my neighbors, they have a soil sample from the overspray from some of the chemicals where this used to be a soybean field for about 60, 70 years," Jeffers said. "I took that to the VA because everyone around this area and even further away, like the fairgrounds are a couple of miles away. They were reporting sore throats, coughing all night, just a lot of respiratory issues. Some people have inhalers. We also asked the DEP about concerns with what exactly is in the dust. They responded saying "We are aware of the former West Virginia Ordinance Works site nearby which is on the us EPA's National Priority List, which is the list of sites among the known releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminates. They add the construction site has never been part of that area which restricts excavation. No WVOW-related contaminates of concern have been identified on the construction site. FULL STORY: https://wchstv.com/news/local/mason-county-neighbors-report-heavy-dust-from-data-center-construction _________________________________________ Follow WCHS on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eyewitnessnewscharleston/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/wchs8fox11​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wchs8fox11/ For the latest local and national news, visit our website: https://wchstv.com/ Sign up for our newsletter: https://wchstv.com/sign-up