Silver Hill Citizens Action Group

Five concerned citizens from the Newdale/Silver Hill area came before the Wetzel County Commission on Dec. 18 to ask for help to make their roads and school bus routes safer for residents. Whether or not the commission can exert any influence in solving a problem which the citizens group say has been getting progressively worse remains to be seen.

Before the commission came Rose Baker, Raymond Renaud, Steve Conlon, Tim Smith, and Bonnie Hall. Baker began her comments to the commission by saying, “We want to see how much support we can get for the road problems we have been having.” These problems were addressed at a Silver Hill community meeting on Nov. 14 and concerned W.Va. 89 (Proctor Road), County Road 3 (Doolin Road), Friendship Ridge, and Macedonia Ridge. Baker said Chesapeake Energy is currently drilling gas wells in the area. The gas operations not only require a large amount of equipment moving in and out of the area, but also numerous water trucks for the drilling process.

The result is deteriorating roads, hazardous conditions exacerbated by winter storms, and truckers who have been asked, but do reportedly not share, the roads. The group said taxes for road repair funds paid by Chesapeake are not earmarked for Wetzel County for the very roads they are damaging. “Most of the money stays in Charleston,” Conlon said. Commission President Barbara King agreed.

The citizens group told the commission the trucks do not share the narrow roads and the road base on which the trucks travel was never designed to carry the types of loads they are hauling. The roads are being destroyed and on an icy day such as the county experienced last week, one car was forced off the road and over a hill by a truck.

Baker said the main offenders are the sub-contracted truckers from Arvilla. At the Silver Hill town meeting the citizens were assured the trucks would avoid using the roads during school bus hours, 6-8 a.m. and 3-5 p.m. Baker says they are simply not complying with the request. Baker said, “They ignore it (the schedule); they run when they want.”

The worst part, according to Conlon, is that the school bus drivers do not seem to be willing to get involved by offering opinions or evidence against the drilling companies’ drivers. Commissioner Bob Gorby wanted to know why the Board of Education had not become involved since it was a safety issue for school buses. Conlon didn’t know, but Baker was of the opinion that the school bus drivers were afraid they would lose their jobs if they complained.

Smith offered a point of view from the position of being a truck driver himself. Most of the trucks, he observed, are not over their licensed weight limit. The problem is that the road base was never designed to sustain such heavy weights, usually ranging from 65,000 to 120,000 hauled tons. Smith said, “All the rigs are given permits—you can’t stop them.” Reportedly the West Virginia Department of Highways is reluctant to repair any roads by repaving, because it is anticipated that Chesapeake will be hauling rigs in the county for another three to five years, and repairs will not hold.

Baker complained that the county and state law enforcement are never able to arrive in time to witness any of the drivers violating use of the roads. She said the last time law enforcement were called the truck driver violators were detained for several hours while they were stuck on the highway, but no state or county police arrived.

Renaud agreed, “We have load limit laws, but they are not being enforced.” When questioned as to who had jurisdiction over road weight law enforcement, he answered the West Virginia Department of Transportation. But even Gorby admitted the fines imposed on trucks are not severe enough to discourage violations. “Those fines are nothing to them,” he said.

Conlon suggested that signs be erected in affected areas of heavy truck traffic, reminding haulers to stay off the road during school bus hours and to avoid use of the road in icy conditions.

Ultimately, the commission, though sympathetic, said they were not sure if anything they could do would have any effect, but they took addresses of DOT contacts and said they would write letters and send copies to any entities, such as the board of education or the post office, in hopes that someone somewhere would know how to address the problem of too many trucks on too little roads. “It’s only a matter of time before someone gets killed,” said Renaud. All agreed a tragedy such as this would affect all concerned, whether the victim were a drilling truck driver, a resident, or a child.