Citizens' Checklist of Potential Illegal Activity by the Pocahontas County Solid Waste Authority (SWA)
I. Illegal Meetings and Procedural Violations
- [ ] Voting Without Legal Authority (Expired Oaths): West Virginia Code § 6-1-7 strictly prohibits any official from exercising authority or discharging duties before taking a valid oath of office. Citizens allege that SWA Chairman Dave Henderson has been casting deciding votes with an oath of office that expired in 2015. If challenged via a direct legal action (such as a writ of quo warranto), all votes cast by unsworn members to approve leases or regulations could be nullified as void.
- [ ] Invalid Quorums: The SWA has passed massive financial commitments (like the 15-year Option 4 lease) while operating with multiple board vacancies (only 3 of 5 seats filled). Furthermore, if any of the three members present were legally unsworn, the meeting lacked the functional legal quorum required by the Open Governmental Proceedings Act (OGMA) to make binding decisions.
- [ ] Improper Executive Sessions: During a crucial December 17 special meeting, the SWA entered a highly questionable executive session where they permitted the private contractor (Jacob and Malinda Meck) to attend, while simultaneously barring elected public officials, including the County Commission President and the Marlinton Mayor, from the room.
- [ ] Restricting Public Participation: The SWA has scheduled special meetings at 2:00 p.m. (which limits working citizens' attendance) and refused to allow public comment on construction or hauling contracts during hearings, limiting discussion strictly to fees. This violates the legislative intent of W.Va. Code §22C-4-1, which mandates that waste decisions be resolved in a forum where citizens can easily participate.
II. Collusion and Conspiracy to Violate Open Government
- [ ] Evasion of Competitive Bidding Laws: The SWA approved a $4.12 million, 15-year lease-to-own transfer station agreement with JacMal, LLC (owned by Jacob Meck) without soliciting open competitive bids. This bypasses West Virginia Code §20-14-10 (requiring bids for services over $25,000) and §5-22-1 (requiring bids for construction over $50,000) by deceptively classifying the construction as a "public-private partnership" lease.
- [ ] Deeding Public Land to Private Interests: To facilitate the no-bid Meck contract and dodge property taxes, the SWA agreed to sell two acres of the public sanitary landfill to the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation (GVEDC), which will then lease it to JacMal, LLC. Citizens view this complex maneuver as an illegal giveaway of public assets to guarantee a private company's profits.
- [ ] Conflicts of Interest: The SWA engaged in exclusive, closed-door negotiations to solve the landfill closure crisis with Jacob Meck, who is a former member of the state Solid Waste Management Board and the owner of the county's largest hauling company (Allegheny Disposal).
III. Monopolization and Antitrust Violations
- [ ] Violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act (Monopoly Power): By enacting "flow control" regulations that legally mandate all county waste be processed exclusively through the new JacMal transfer station, the SWA is willfully acquiring monopoly power and freezing out competition in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act.
- [ ] Unconstitutional Private Monopoly: Under the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in C&A Carbone v. Town of Clarkstown, forcing residents to use a facility built, financed, and maintained by a private contractor (JacMal) constitutes unconstitutional economic protectionism. The SWA is attempting to use its regulatory power to guarantee the financial success of a single private vendor.
- [ ] Illegal Exportation Bans: Draft regulations (Section 10) explicitly prohibit taking municipal solid waste out of Pocahontas County. This directly violates West Virginia Code §22-15-1, which legally commits the state to "not interfering with the free flow of solid waste into or out of this state".
IV. Restrictive and Illegal Regulations
- [ ] Illegal and Confiscatory Civil Penalties: The SWA's draft mandatory disposal regulations (Section 12) attempt to impose civil penalties of $150.00 per day for violations. This is a blatant, ultra vires violation of West Virginia Code §22C-4-10(a), which strictly limits local solid waste authority penalties to $150 per year.
- [ ] Illegal Taxation Disguised as Fees: The SWA proposed expanding the "Green Box" fee to assess a charge on every single deeded parcel in the county, including vacant land, timber tracts, and unimproved farmland. Under W.Va. Code §22C-4-10, mandatory disposal requirements only apply to persons "occupying a residence or operating a business establishment". Assessing fees on vacant land illegally transforms a service fee into an unconstitutional property tax.
- [ ] Eliminating Statutory Disposal Rights: The SWA plans to permanently eliminate the monthly "Free Day" for residents once the transfer station opens, stripping citizens of a long-standing state-mandated right to freely dispose of one pickup truck load of waste per month.
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This checklist is designed to help citizens, auditors, or investigators identify potential illegal activities and corruption within a Solid Waste Authority (SWA). These items are categorized by the most common areas of risk: environmental compliance, financial procurement, and administrative transparency.
1. Environmental & Operational Crimes
Violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and state environmental laws.
[ ] Unpermitted Disposal: Is the SWA disposing of waste (particularly hazardous waste) at sites not permitted for those specific materials?
[ ] Manifest Fraud: Are hazardous waste manifests being falsified, altered, or "missing" for certain shipments?
[ ] Illegal Dumping/Short-Hauling: Are contractors being paid to haul waste to a distant, legal facility but instead "short-hauling" it to illegal or closer, cheaper unpermitted sites?
[ ] Leachate Mismanagement: Is the SWA knowingly bypassing treatment systems or discharging toxic leachate (liquid runoff) into local waterways or sewer systems without a permit?
[ ] Air Quality Tampering: Are methane collection systems or flare monitors being tampered with to hide high emission levels?
Red Flag: A sudden, unexplained drop in "tipping fee" revenue despite the landfill appearing just as busy as usual.
2. Procurement & Financial Fraud
Schemes involving contracts, kickbacks, and the "waste-to-wealth" pipeline.
[ ] Bid Rigging: Do the same 2–3 companies always "rotate" winning contracts? Are bids suspiciously close to the internal budget estimate?
[ ] Kickbacks & Bribery: Are board members or managers receiving gifts, travel, or "consulting fees" from waste hauling companies?
[ ] Change Order Abuse: Does a contractor win with a "low bid" only to have the price skyrocket later through "emergency" change orders approved without competition?
[ ] Weighbridge/Scale Fraud: Are "ghost loads" being billed? (Invoicing for waste that was never delivered) or "under-weighing" loads for favored commercial clients?
[ ] Fuel & Equipment Siphoning: Is SWA-purchased fuel or equipment being used for private business by employees or contractors?
3. Governance & "Sunshine Law" Violations
Violations of public trust and transparency requirements.
[ ] Illegal Executive Sessions: Is the board discussing contracts, budgets, or policy behind closed doors under the guise of "personnel" or "litigation"?
[ ] Walking Quorums: Are board members making decisions via private group texts, emails, or "serial" phone calls before the public meeting even starts?
[ ] Public Records Denial: Is the SWA habitually delaying or charging exorbitant fees for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding contracts and weigh-in logs?
[ ] Conflict of Interest: Do board members have family members or "silent" business interests in the hauling companies they regulate?
4. Administrative & Payroll Fraud
Internal corruption and mismanagement of public funds.
[ ] Ghost Employees: Are people on the payroll who do not actually work at the facility (often relatives of officials)?
[ ] Overtime Padding: Is there a pattern of "automatic" overtime for certain favored employees regardless of actual workload?
[ ] Pension/Benefit Spiking: Are salaries being artificially inflated in the final years before an official’s retirement to "spike" their public pension?
[ ] Nepotism: Are high-level, high-salary positions filled by relatives of board members without a public job posting or competitive interview process?
How to Document Evidence
If you suspect illegal activity, look for these "Source Documents":
Tipping Logs/Scale House Tickets: Compare these against the monthly revenue reports.
Vendor Gift Disclosures: Check the annual financial disclosure forms required by state ethics commissions.
Meeting Minutes vs. Recordings: Listen for discrepancies between what was said in the meeting and what was officially recorded.
Property Records: Look for board members who recently purchased property or luxury items that don't match their known income.
To get the most out of a public records request, you need to be specific. General "fishing expeditions" are often denied for being "overly burdensome," so it is better to request specific categories of documents.
Below is a formal template. Since "FOIA" is technically for federal agencies, I have framed this to work for State Public Records Acts, which is what governs a local or regional Solid Waste Authority (SWA).
Public Records Request Template
To: [Name of Record Custodian/Public Information Officer]
Agency: [Name of the Solid Waste Authority]
Address: [SWA Headquarters Address]
Date: [Current Date]
RE: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST – [Specific Subject, e.g., Financial and Operational Records]
Dear Custodian of Records,
Under the [Insert State, e.g., West Virginia] Freedom of Information Act, [Insert Code Citation if known, e.g., W. Va. Code § 29B-1-1 et seq.], I am requesting an opportunity to inspect or obtain copies of public records that include the following:
1. Operational & Environmental Records
Weighbridge/Scale House Logs: Daily transaction logs for the period of [Start Date] to [End Date], specifically showing truck ID, weight-in/weight-out, and origin of waste.
Environmental Manifests: All hazardous waste manifests and leachate disposal logs for the last 24 months.
Inspection Reports: Copies of any "Notice of Violation" (NOV) or internal compliance audits performed in the last three years.
2. Financial & Procurement Records
Contractor Agreements: All active contracts and related "Change Orders" for waste hauling, equipment maintenance, and consulting services.
Bid Tabulations: Records of all bids submitted for [Specific Project or Contract Name], including the scoring sheets used to select the winning vendor.
Credit Card Statements: Monthly statements for all SWA-issued credit cards for the last 12 months.
3. Governance & Personnel Records
Executive Session Minutes: Minutes or recordings of all "Executive Sessions" held in the last 12 months (redacted only where strictly required by law).
Conflict of Interest Forms: Annual "Ethics Disclosure" or "Conflict of Interest" forms filed by current SWA Board Members and the Executive Director.
Payroll Ledger: A list of all current employees, their job titles, and their total gross compensation for the previous fiscal year.
Request Details
Format: I request these records be provided in electronic format (e.g., PDF or Excel/CSV for data sets) to the email address provided below.
Fee Waiver: I request a waiver of all fees, as the disclosure of this information is in the public interest and will contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations of a tax-funded authority. If the fees will exceed $[Insert Amount, e.g., $50.00], please notify me before proceeding.
Timeline: I look forward to your response within [Insert State Deadline, usually 3-7] business days, as required by law.
If you deny any part of this request, please cite the specific legal exemption that justifies the withholding of each record.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Phone Number]
[Your Email Address]
[Your Organization/Affiliation, if applicable]
Pro-Tips for Your Request
Be the "Data Person": If you are looking for financial fraud, always ask for Excel/CSV formats. It is much harder for them to hide "ghost loads" or "billing spikes" in a spreadsheet than in 500 scanned PDFs.
The "Voucher" Trick: If you suspect specific illegal spending, ask for "Vouchers and Receipts" for a specific month. These often show things that the general budget hides.
Certified Mail: If you suspect they will be uncooperative, send the request via Certified Mail with a Return Receipt. This creates a legal "paper trail" that you can use if you have to escalate the issue to the State Attorney General or a court.
Please send your findings to normanalderman@yahoo.com or hard copy to 135 Fossil Lane, Marlinton, West Virginia
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