Who’s Protecting Who with Regard to Public Drinking Water?

David Johnson, Chief operator of the Grantsville Municipal Water Plant, has had virtually a spotless record when it comes to the operation, testing and quality of the drinking water produced in Grantsville, West Virginia. With over 30 years of service as a Class II Operator he runs a tight ship when it comes to the treatment and procedures of the Water System, being a stickler especially with regards to testing. He’s well known by many in the State system and relied upon by multiple agencies for answering questions and helping to solve problems. But there is one problem he has been unable to solve with his own system and he’s not alone. The problem is violations received with mandated reporting stating it was an error on his system when in reality it was negligence on the part of Pace Laboratories. 

That is a pretty serious statement, but following an investigation where Ridgeview News spoke with multiple Water Systems in the state, it is a statement that is reiterated from each one with the same level of frustration. 

In the State of West Virginia there is currently only three certified labs capable of performing the tests necessary to keep Water Plants in compliance. Analabs, Inc. in Southern WV; Pace Labs; Fairway Laboratories (now owned by Pace) and Sturm Environmental Services, who subcontract much of their testing to Pace.) 

There in lies much of the problem. Pace has been allowed to monopolize a critically required service, fail to perform their duties and are currently being allowed to run their laboratory without intervention or penalties from the State of West Virginia. But the Water Systems are monitored and receive violations at every turn for noncompliance. Often times the noncompliance is a result of Pace Laboratories having not reported test results in a timely manner, even though the water samples were dropped off to their lab in the allotted time for compliance. Pace Laboratories  failed to properly analyze drinking water samples and report the test results in accordance with its certification and state regulations.

One would expect all laboratories certified for the analysis of drinking water to consistently meet all state laboratory certification regulations in order to protect public health. But conversations with systems in Clay, Jackson, Wood, Braxton and Calhoun have all reported incidents of undeserved violations, often times costing the municipality or PSD costs for the mandatory publishing of the violation to the public, plus additional administrative costs. 

At times the State of West Virginia has allowed a system to submit a Rescind request to remove the violation, but at other times they are disallowed.

A Jackson County Operator stated that in December their Bacti samples were sent to Pace Laboratories. The results were returned stating on the front page that the testing was good;  but in March the system received a violation that Pace had held their samples too long and they were in violation. In the report there was a “Qualifier code” that went un-noticed. The qualifier code was found on page 8 of the report stating there was a violation. The operator was informed that 15 systems were violated for the same issue because of Pace’s failure. Yet the systems were expected to take ownership of the violation instead of Pace.  

Jackson County has since begun driving their tests to a State Lab in Big Chimney for testing (costing additional money for transportation and time) but at least they’re getting their samples done in a timely manner. But not all testing types can be completed at the Big Chimney lab, so Pace must still do part of their testing. 

A Wood County Water Plant Operator stated that this was a statewide problem and that his system had received multiple violations caused by Pace’s failure to submit their results to the State of West Virginia in time. Once a system provides a sample to Pace (or any lab) there is only a small window of time ranging from hours to a day to complete the test and report results. The reporting is the issue, not the time of receipt. 

Other systems have said they know it’s an issue, but they stay on top of the Pace reporting system and continually monitor their reports to make sure Pace is doing them correctly. The tests that Pace are completing are not cheap, ranging from a few hundred to over $1,000 for one test. 

A Roane County Operator informed Ridgeview News that their plant along with 40 others in the State had received a violation due to the sodium test being left off the report. The State will not rescind the violation knowing it was Pace Laboratories at fault, not the Water Plants. 

This article is ran in hopes of bringing attention to the State of West Virginia’s failure to provide laboratory options, the lack of a monopoly and creating fair practice with all reporting within the system. Pace Laboratories should have received notice, financial accountability and a threat of losing their license to operate in the State of West Virginia.