"West Virginia School Will Remain Open For Now Amid Toxic Groundwater Fears"

"PADEN CITY, W.Va. — A small West Virginia school will remain open for now after a court temporarily blocked an effort to relocate classes due to the town’s contaminated groundwater being added to a national cleanup priority list.

Last month, Wetzel County Schools Superintendent Cassandra R. Porter announced that students, faculty and staff at Paden City High School would be relocated to existing schools in nearby New Martinsville when classes resume in August.

However, attorneys representing a group of those students, faculty and staff filed a petition this week seeking to block the move, according to news outlets. The petition argued that the federal government did not recommend closing the school because there was no health risk and that closing the school would “devastate” the community.

“Based upon the petition, there appears to be no emergency, the status of Paden City as a Superfund Site has been known for many years and these conditions are not unforeseen or unanticipated,” Circuit Judge Richard Wilson wrote in his Friday ruling."

The Associated Press had the story July 13, 2024.

SEE ALSO:

"Classes At A West Virginia School Will Relocate Over Toxic Groundwater Fears" (AP)
https://apnews.com/article/west-virginia-superfund-school-relocated-6181...

Source: AP, 07/16/2024