A Sad History

 

Pocahontas County Solid Waste Authority Faces Outcry Over No-Bid Contract Following Failed Landfill Expansion

MARLINTON, W.Va. — The Pocahontas County Solid Waste Authority (PCSWA) is facing fierce public backlash over a multi-million-dollar, no-bid contract and a government-enforced waste monopoly, a drastic pivot made after efforts to expand the county's existing landfill collapsed.

Before approving the controversial transfer station plan known as "Option #4," the PCSWA spent years attempting to expand the active Dunmore landfill. The expansion plan involved purchasing 25 acres of adjacent land from the Fertig family, which would have provided 10 suitable acres for new disposal cells and extended the facility’s lifespan by 50 years. However, negotiations bogged down over complex deed stipulations, including demands for permanent easements and liability insurance for an access road. The plan ultimately reached a dead end when the family's heirs declined to sell any land following the patriarch's death in 2017.

Unwilling to use eminent domain, the cash-strapped PCSWA found that constructing a new landfill elsewhere was geologically and financially impossible. Modern environmental standards requiring petroleum-based composite liners and leachate treatment plants would push new development costs beyond $10 million. For a county that generates only about 8,000 tons of waste annually, this debt burden was mathematically insurmountable.

Facing a terminal December 2026 closure date, the PCSWA bypassed the West Virginia Fairness in Competitive Bidding Act to secure a 15-year, $4.12 million lease-to-own transfer station agreement with JacMal, LLC, owned by local entrepreneur Jacob Meck. To execute this without public auction, the SWA used the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation as a "pass-through" entity, effectively transforming a public works project into a private real estate transaction.

To guarantee the $16,759 monthly lease payments for the privately-built station, the SWA is enacting strict "Flow Control" regulations. This mandate forces every ounce of county trash through the new facility, stripping municipalities like Durbin of their right to haul waste to cheaper, closer out-of-county alternatives.

The financial fallout for residents will be severe. The PCSWA projects the annual residential "Green Box" fee will skyrocket from $120 to over $300, while tipping fees could reach $125 per ton. Infuriated by the closed-door maneuvering and the impending monopoly, dozens of residents have flooded recent hearings, engaging in shouting matches with officials and demanding competitive bidding.