The state Department of Environmental Protection issued a finalized air quality permit on Aug. 12 to Clean-Seas West Virginia, allowing the out-of-state company to move forward with the construction of a controversial “advanced recycling” plant in eastern Kanawha County.
The permit was approved despite numerous concerns raised by dozens of residents in Belle, West Virginia, where the plant would be located, as well as the Kanawha County Commission and Charleston City Council. In the DEP’s final determination letter, regulators said that the concerns voiced by residents — including the company’s financial instability, the proposed facility’s impact on air quality, the region’s burgeoning tourism economy and its proximity to local schools, among other things — did not violate the state’s set standards for issuing air quality permits.
For locals and advocates who have been organizing in opposition to the facility, the DEP’s permit approval was not a surprise, but was still disappointing.
“This is pretty much what we expected from the DEP,” said Lani Wean, the West Virginia field organizer for the nonprofit environmental group Moms Clean Air Force. “They have a pretty consistent pattern of approving permits like these and essentially ignoring community input and concerns.”
For over a year, Wean has worked alongside Belle residents and other organizers to sound the alarm on the proposed pyrolysis plant, educating people on how it could actually function and what might be at stake if Clean-Seas does begin operations.
The DEP previously granted a draft permit for the facility, which would operate by burning plastic feedstock to create pyrolysis oil, synthetic gas and solid residue to be used and sold for petrochemical manufacturing purposes.
Locals have voiced concerns about the potential emissions that could come, especially as the proposed location sits only a few hundred feet from Riverside High School, Midland Trail Elementary School and residential neighborhoods. They wonder how the facility, located in the old 84 Lumber building, will affect a new offroad trail system meant to bolster the area’s tourism opportunities and the local economy.
Eric Caruthers, a Belle resident who has been heading organizing efforts within his community, said that the stakes are high for him and his neighbors, who will continue to fight against Clean-Seas despite the DEP’s permit issuance.
“The community members that have gotten together to fight this are very passionate and engaged on this, and we are not giving up,” Caruthers said Thursday. “So we’re looking at our next steps, how to strategize, how to continue the fight because even though the permit was approved, we still don’t want it and we’re not going to just let it happen.”
Residents are also wary of Clean Vision Corporation’s (the parent company of Clean-Seas) track record in opening and operating the types of facilities it’s proposing for Belle, and question its overall financial stability.
According to a report published last month by the Ohio River Valley Institute, the company currently has two operational pyrolysis facilities: one in India and another in Morocco. Since operations began at those locations in 2023, filings with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission show the company has generated less than $614,000 in revenue from pyrolysis activities, with the income shrinking year over year. Meanwhile, it’s accumulated nearly $58 million in deficits due to operational losses and other growing expenses.
And while the company has marketed its plastic pyrolysis process as a “clean” and a “sustainable energy solution” for the world’s ongoing plastics crisis, experts and organizers are doubtful. The technology, they’ve said, is questionable and nothing more than a rebranding of plastic incineration, which is shown to harm the environment and public health while contributing to climate change.
“[The West Virginia DEP’s] approval of this air permit represents a rollback of critical pollution safeguards put in place to keep families and children safe from the most damaging impacts of waste incineration. In addition to departing from decades of precedent, the decision also dismisses concerns of local residents and county officials,” said ORVI Chief of Staff Tom Torres in a news release. “With this permit, Clean-Seas West Virginia has reached a critical milestone. However, if its parent company’s past performance and the industry’s track record are any indication, the facility likely faces an uphill climb towards successful commercial operation."
Wean said that the DEP’s issuance of the permit will not detract from local efforts to protect the community.
“If anything, all this does is bolster the passion and drive with which the community will be taking on other avenues to fight against the facility,” Wean said. “Because, like I said, this was expected. So when we can’t rely on our regulatory bodies to represent us … we have to take that into our hands.”
Caity Coyne is a reporter for West Virginia Watch, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.
