USDA announces wastewater service project in Kanawha moving forward

CHEYLAN, W.Va. — A major water and waste project in the Kanawha Valley can move forward.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced Thursday an investment of $2.2 million in water and waste disposal loan and grants to help improve the wastewater service in the rural Kanawha County community of Cheylan.

The Kanawha Public Service District (KPSD) will receive a $250,000 loan and two grants, one for $475,000 and another for $1.5 million to assist their project, the USDA said in a release.

“This project has been decades in the making and the folks in the Upper Kanawha Valley along Route 61 are going to be so thrilled to have this project become a reality,” Kanawha County Commissoner Ben Salango said.

According to the USDA, the investment will enable the KPSD to install a wastewater pump station southwest of the intersection of Interstate 64 and West Virginia Route 94 and the installation of 27,500 linear feet of force main, which will run along Lens Creek and WV Route 61 to the PSD’s wastewater treatment plant in Chelyan.

Along with the pump station and force main, 5,000 linear feet of gravity sewers, 27,350 linear feet of gravity sewers, and 3,700 linear feet of gravity sewers will be installed along Lens Creek and WV Route 94. Approximately 800 linear feet of casing pipe will be installed as the gravity sewer line is expected to cross WV Route 94 in several locations.

An estimated 2,647 customers in the area will benefit from the project.

“These folks have been suffering under an adequate system for the last 40 years. They’ve known that problem will be there for that long,” said Kris Warner, West Virginia State Director, USDA Rural Development at the announcement.

In addition to the $2.2 million from the USDA, the Kanawha Public Service District will also receive a $2.5 million loan from the WV Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council, which Governor Justice chairs, a $1.5 million grant from the Appalachian Regional Council, and a $2 million grant from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for a combined project total of more than $8.2 million.

Salango said the project will start in Spring 2021 and take one year to complete phase one.