PINE GROVE, W.Va. (WBOY) — After more than four months in a drought, the town of Pine Grove, West Virginia is simply running out of water.
The Pine Grove Town Council voted Wednesday night to declare a State of Emergency, and Valley High School was moved to remote learning Thursday due to a lack of water.
That emergency declaration will go into effect as soon as it is signed by the Wetzel County Commission, and then it will be sent to Gov. Jim Justice. The town is also under a mandatory conserve water order.
Pine Grove has approximately 500 residents and uses surface water from nearby Fishing Creek. Although no residents are completely without water as of Thursday, after more than four months in drought conditions, that water source is running low.
Residents have been ordered to conserve water until further notice, which is a first for the town.
According to Pine Grove Recorder Sandra Hurst, the town is buying some water from the Wetzel County Public Service Department sourced from New Martinsville, but that is only a temporary option. She also said that oil and gas companies have loaned the town pumps to “pump wherever we find a puddle” along Fishing Creek, and the town is also trying to get a tanker of water from American Water but until there is rain, there is not much else that the town can do.
As of Thursday afternoon, 168 cases of bottled water have been donated by an area gas company.
Wetzel County Emergency Management 911 Director Steve Yoho said that because of the lack of water, fires are a major concern in the town. He said that there are two 1,000-gallon trucks in Pine Grove, but more water would be needed for any major fire. Additional water would have to be transported from other departments and municipalities, which which are a minimum of 15-20 minutes away, and in Yoho’s words, “time is life.” There is a burn ban in effect in the Pine Grove town limit until further notice.
As of Oct. 31, Wetzel County is under extreme drought conditions. 12 News has reached out to Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) and Gov. Jim Justice’s (R) office and received the following response from Sen. Manchin’s office.
Senator Manchin’s office is working with the Mayor’s office and state officials to help coordinate and get water back for the town of Pine Grove.
In an email to 12 News on Nov. 1, Yoho confirmed that a tanker from Charleston arrived with 7,000 gallons of water and that an additional 23000 gallons was added from Wetzel PSD1.