wfn.org | West Virginians believe their village, church imperiled

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

April 1, 1999  News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn. 10-71B{181}

By Dean Snyder*

BLAIRTON, W. Va. (UMNS) -- A West Virginia church and the village of 43
homes that surround it may become a ghost town if the mining company that
owns the ground they sit on succeeds in shutting off their water.

Residents of Blairton and members of the Blairton United Methodist Church
believe the Riverton Corp., a limestone quarry company, intends to force
them out of their homes and church by discontinuing their water supply. The
company wants to mine limestone where the village is now located, according
to residents.

Riverton insists it simply wants to rid itself of the burden of operating a
water supply system that is expensive to maintain and from which it derives
no benefit.

The villagers, many elderly and living on fixed incomes, are scared to
death, according to Harlan Greenfield, a local resident and member of
Blairton church. They believe the company's attempt to shut off their water
is just the first step in an effort to move them from their homes and
church.  The company owns the ground beneath all of the buildings. A
44-year-old lease gives Riverton the right to order the homeowners to remove
their dwellings at their own expense with only 30 days' notice.

"How do you tell a woman in her 70s, who gets a small check of about $300 a
month, she has to pick up her house and move?" Greenfield said. "I'm 36
years old. I could start over if I had to.  These people can't. That's why
I'm fighting it with everything that I have."

Riverton has no intention of dispossessing Blairton residents, according to
a company official.  

"The fear of losing their homes, expressed by some of the residents, simply
has no factual basis," wrote George L. Thompson, Riverton vice president of
operations. Thompson wrote a letter Feb. 23 in response to Bishop Felton
Edwin May's inquiry about the future of the church and village, which are in
May's episcopal area. 

"On the contrary, Riverton has gone the second mile by allowing generous
time (four years to date) for the residents to find a solution to their
(water) problem," the Riverton executive stated.

"But regarding the underlying concern raised by the perpetual rights point,
note (that) when the home owners purchased the houses, they knew they had no
perpetual right to occupy and use the land," Thompson wrote. "They knew the
sub-leases were terminable on 30 days' notice. They knew that, upon
termination, the houses would have to be removed from the lots at the
homeowner's expense."

When Blair Quarry was opened in 1909 on land leased from local farmers, the
Blair Co. built simple houses for its workers, who were primarily
African-Americans and immigrants from eastern Europe. In 1911, a church was
begun in the company schoolhouse. It later affiliated with the Second United
Brethren Church of Martinsburg. The church building was completed and
dedicated in 1918. The worship bulletin for the April 14, 1918, dedication
exercise for Blairton United Brethren Church said, "Almost entire labor on
church basement contributed free by employees of Blair Limestone Company. To
date there have been 255 contributors, of whom 54 were foreign born
employees of the Blair Limestone Company." 
 
The quarry, including a perpetual lease on the land, has been sold twice
since then. The owner before Riverton sold the houses, but not the lots on
which they sit, to residents in 1955. This owner continued to supply the
homes with water as, what Riverton officials later describe, a "community
service."  Most houses have been renovated and expanded and are now valued
at $16,000 to $20,000.

Riverton purchased the quarry in 1976 and mined it until 1985, when
operations were closed. In 1995, the company announced plans to reopen the
quarry and notified Blairton residents that it would be discontinuing water
service to their homes.

Blairton residents responded by offering to buy the land under their homes
and church, Greenfield said. "Riverton owns over 500 acres. Only 32 acres
are inhabited. If they would sell us the 32 acres, that still leaves them
468 acres to quarry," he said.

Thompson said in his letter that the company couldn't sell the land because
its doesn't own it.  "The Blairton village occupies a small part of a large
acreage which Riverton does not own but holds as a lease. As a lessee
itself, Riverton has no legal right to grant perpetual easements."

Residents attempted to negotiate access to public water, which runs within a
half-mile of the village, according to Greenfield. Riverton refused to grant
the 20-year easement which the water utility said it needed to finance the
investment of running water pipes to the village, he said.

In November 1997, 33 months after first receiving a water shut-off warning,
Blairton residents and the church trustees filed a lawsuit against Riverton.
"We were still under the 30-day lease.  At any time they could have evicted
us. Our only hope was to take them to court and make them let public water
come in," Greenfield said.

Thompson remembers differently. "In March 1995, a residents' representative
called Riverton asking and receiving responses to questions about installing
wells or cisterns on the lots. ... While there have been claims to the
contrary, the residents have not approached Riverton for further
assistance," he wrote. "While we believe the lawsuit was both ill-advised
and a misuse of resources, it definitely prevents any dialogue while it
remains unresolved."
 
The Berkley County Circuit Court has ordered the residents and company into
mediation. While parties are forbidden to discuss the details, Greenfield is
pessimistic. "I really believe, the community believes, they just want us
out of here. We've done everything, proposed everything, we could," he said

Thompson, on the other hand, said a solution is likely. "We are optimistic
that the court-directed mediation will lead to open and constructive
discussions and a resolution to the problem," he wrote. "But it would be
constructive to arriving at a solution if the Blairton residents recognized
that Riverton has spent very significant funds on their behalf and (if they
would) appreciate that, instead of constantly bad-mouthing us and attempting
to inflict damage on Riverton." The company said it has spent $380,000 on
the water system since acquiring the quarry in 1976.

Laura Rose, a lawyer who is volunteering her time to pursue a legislative
solution, said quarries aren't regulated like the coal industry is in West
Virginia. If coal-mining regulations were applied to quarries, Riverton
would not be permitted to discontinue Blairton's water supply, she said.
She hopes the state attorney general's office will help Blairton residents
stay in their homes.

Meanwhile, church members, other villagers, and friends are spending their
weekends in the basement of Blairton Church, quilting. Polly Custer, a
Blairton resident, came up with the idea of making a quilt to raise money
for legal fees, which have already exceeded $15,000. They stated their case
for support on an Internet Web site and invited readers to send them fabric
squares.  They are sewing the squares, which have been signed by donors from
Guam, Australia, Korea and throughout the United States, into a
120-by-100-inch Y2K quilt, which they intend to complete by the end of the
year.
 
Mel Arvin, a trustee of Blairton Church, said the church needs some repairs,
but members are hesitant to make them. "We're holding off on everything
until this water thing is settled.  I understand Riverton is planning to run
a bulldozer through the church."

#  #  #

*Snyder is director of communications for the Baltimore-Washington Annual
Conference of the United Methodist Church. 

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