The 2015 Year In Review, Part Two
Washington Health System announced on July 1 that it completed the terms of acquisition with RegionalCare Hospital Partners of Brentwood, Tennessee, and Southwest Regional Medical Center (SRMC) in Waynesburg will be operated by, and carry the name and brand of, Washington Health System (WHS).
The dam at Ryerson Station State Park used to hold back Duke Lake, which was drained after the dam was determined to be too structurally unstable to hold back the lake. A task force met in July 2015 to engage the public in coming up with a plan on what the community would like to see done in the state park. The task force’s goal is to develop short term and long term goals for the former Duke Lake area. (Photo by Kelly Tunney, Herald-Standard)
Hundreds of different types of fish, including a large number of muskies such as the ones in this photo, were found dead along Dunkard Creek in Pennsylvania and West Virginia in September 2009, after golden algae bloomed in the Monongalia County stream. A $2.5 million settlement was reached in the matter in September.
Michael Cipoletti, assistant professor of forensic science at Waynesburg University, shares statistics regarding drug use and abuse among youths during a town hall meeting held at the Greene County Courthouse on Oct. 8. Cipoletti was one of many guest speakers who talked to the hundreds in attendance about the drug and alcohol epidemic that is impacting the county. (Photo by Brett Spitznogle)
Lou Dayich
Students from Margaret Bell Miller Middle School return to their classes on Nov. 17 after being evacuated when a written bomb threat was found on the premises earlier in the day. (Photo by Steve Barrett)
This is the second installment of the Greene County Messenger’s Year In Review. This week, we focus on the biggest news stories that occurred in the second six months of 2015.
Waynesburg hospital becomes Washington Health System Greene
Washington Health System announced on July 1 that it has completed the terms of acquisition with RegionalCare Hospital Partners of Brentwood, Tennessee and Southwest Regional Medical Center (SRMC) in Waynesburg will be operated by, and carry the name and brand of, Washington Health System (WHS).
The facility was branded as Washington Health System Greene.
Hospital-based outpatient services that were previously owned and operated by SRMC and their parent company RegionalCare Hospital Partners, will also become part of the WHS integrated system of care. These services include SRMC Wound Care and Hyperbaric Center as well as Southwestern Home Care, all which will take on the new name and the WHS brand.
In addition to rebranding the hospital and its outpatient services, some of the local practices and physicians including Dr. Amy Diamond, Dr. John Martin, Dr. Jami Pincavitch, Dr. Richard Ajayi and Dr. Darlene Saheta are joining the WHS Washington Physicians Group (WPG). Their practices will also carry the WHS brand and will become part of an integrated network of practices and physicians.
This partnership with the WPG will only help to streamline patient care which includes access to WHS specialists. The WPG already had physician offices located in Greene County, including WHS Family Medicine-Waynesburg (Dr Zimmerman and Dr. Beabout), WHS Cardiovascular Care and WHS Ob/Gyn Care.
In early May, WHS entered into an agreement to purchase the 49-bed Waynesburg hospital. In a previous Messenger article written after the announcement of the agreement, WHS representatives said it intended to continue services provided by SRMC and to honor existing union contracts of hospital employees.
The Waynesburg hospital offers 24-hour emergency services, a full range of diagnostic imaging specialties, a fully accredited laboratory, cardiology services, hyperbaric wound care and home health services. The hospital has been under ownership of Tennessee-based RegionalCare Hospital Partners, formerly Essent Healthcare, since 2005.
RegionalCare Hospital Partners owns nine community hospitals in eight states to provide health care services in non-urban markets.
Task force created to develop future goals for Ryerson Park
State representative Pam Snyder said late July it is “heartbreaking and disappointing” that officials have opted to not rebuild the dam at 1,164-acre Ryerson Station State Park.
When Duke Lake was drained more than a decade ago for safety reasons, Snyder, who was a county commissioner at the time, said she believed that it would one day be fully restored so that visitors to the park could enjoy the lake again.
In late July, the hopes of many who shared the same sentiment were dashed when officials from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced they were withdrawing their permit application to rebuild the dam.
Snyder said a task force met mid-July to engage the public in coming up with a plan on what the community would like to see done in the state park. Some ideas include constructing smaller ponds and designing free-flowing streams to enhance the once-prized fishing in the area. The task force met again in August.
The task force’s goal is to develop short term and long term goals for the former Duke Lake area.
DCNR said they made the decision to draw down the lake in 2005 after safety inspections uncovered water seepage and cracks.
Veronica Coptis, deputy director of the Center for Coalfield Justice, said a state investigation concluded in 2007 determined that nearby mining was at fault for the shifting ground and damaged structure.
In 2013, CONSOL Energy Inc. and DCNR came to a settlement in which CONSOL agreed to pay $36 million, Coptis said. CONSOL Energy Inc. has been conducting longwall mining in the area, a type of underground mining that, in essence, leaves the ground behind the hydraulic shield to fall in and subside, causing a damaging “pooling effect” on the ground surface, Coptis explained.
DCNR officials said that regulations require that “the foundation of a dam or reservoir must be stable under all probable conditions.” Because of continuing ground movement, which could last for years or even decades, the current dam site is unsuitable, according to DCNR.
“We were told up until this point that it would be rebuilt in 2017. We were devastated to hear it wouldn’t be restored, and that the community would bear the impact of this extraction,” said Coptis.
$2.5 million settlement reached in Dunkard Creek fish kill
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission announced on Sept. 7 that it reached a $2.5 million settlement with an energy company over a massive fish kill that occurred in Dunkard Creek six years ago.
The agency had filed a lawsuit alleging discharges from a coal mine in September 2009 entered the creek and killed tens of thousands of fish and other aquatic life over nearly 30 miles of stream in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
State officials on Sept. 7 called devastation from the Dunkard Creek spill “astonishing” and said 40 species of fish and 14 species of mussels were killed, including an endangered mussel.
The settlement was reached with Ohio-based Murray Energy Corp., which took over defense of the suit after it acquired the mine and others from Consol Energy, the commission said.
The Pennsylvania commission said high concentrations of chloride and total dissolved solids in the mine discharge “created brackish water conditions favorable for” the algae bloom.
The settlement money will be used for projects that benefit recreational fishing and boating and the aquatic resources of the Dunkard Creek watershed, and for restoration projects in other southwestern Pennsylvania watersheds, the commission said.
PFBC filed the lawsuit against Consol in September 2011 in Monongalia County, W.Va. court for civil damages resulting from what the commission called a “devastating” 2009 pollution incident in which discharges from coal mines in northern West Virginia that were then owned by Consol entered Dunkard Creek, contributing to the massive fish kill.
The mines in question were purchased by Murray Energy Corp. in December 2013, according to information found on Murray Energy Corp.’s website.
PFBC announced in early August that it had reached a tentative settlement in the lawsuit. Following the announcement, Gary Broadbent, spokesman for Murray Energy, said in an email sent to the Messenger on Aug. 5 that “Murray Energy Corporation was not involved in the events or circumstances in this case, in any way, as it assumed the defense of this action after its acquisition of Consolidation Coal Company in December 2013.”
Broadbent also stated in the email that “the circumstances that led to the loss of aquatic life in Dunkard Creek, in 2009, was caused by a naturally occurring golden algae bloom. While this bloom was unfortunate, Dunkard Creek is recovering naturally, at a very rapid rate, and aquatic life is now thriving.”
The lawsuit was seeking compensatory damages for the lost aquatic life and lost fishing opportunities for Pennsylvania anglers and punitive damages to deter future pollution.
“The devastation to Dunkard Creek was astonishing,” said PFBC Executive Director John Arway, in a written statement issued by the commission on the day the lawsuit was filed. “PFBC biologists estimated that over 42,000 fish, over 15,000 freshwater mussels and over 6,000 mudpuppies were killed. They also estimated that a large number of angler trips have been lost as a result of the fish kill.”
The commission, acting as the state’s “trustee of these aquatic natural resources,” was seeking compensation for the losses that occurred, according to the statement.
In early September 2009, the total fish and mussel kill occurred in the creek after high concentrations of chloride and total dissolved solids in the discharge from Consol’s Blacksville No. 2 mine in West Virginia created brackish water conditions favorable for a bloom of toxic golden algae, according to the statement.
The Dunkard Creek main stem begins near the town of Brave and meanders approximately 37 miles between Pennsylvania and West Virginia until its confluence with the Monongahela River near Dunkard Township.
PFBC biologists collected 40 species of fish and 14 species of mussels that were killed by the incident; among the dead mussels was the Pennsylvania endangered snuffbox mussel, according to the statement.
November closing of Emerald Mine announced
In September, Alpha Natural Resources informed employees at Emerald Mine in Waynesburg it was closing the mine by the end of November and laying off all employees who work there.
The announcement to close the mine, which has been in operation since 1977, comes as no surprise. In August 2014, Alpha announced it would cease operations at Emerald in late 2015.
In a notice filed Sept. 25 with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, as required under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, Emerald states that it intends to permanently idle its entire Emerald No. 1 Mine at 158 Portal Road, Waynesburg and as a result, “Emerald, Pennsylvania Services and Maxxim plan to reduce their workforces at the mine Nov. 24, 2015, or within the two-week period after that date.”
Moreover, the letter to Labor and Industry says approximately 241 hourly Emerald employees will be laid off and 49 salaried Emerald employees, 11 Pennsylvania Service employees and 15 Maxxim employees will be terminated.
When the initial announcement of the planned closing was made last year, Alpha cited a depressed coal market, a challenging domestic regulatory environment and the fact the mine was nearing the end of its reserves as reasons for the closure.
In the last year, an estimated 140 Emerald miners have gone to work at Alpha’s Cumberland Mine, also in Greene County.
Meanwhile, Alpha filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September seeking court approval of a $692 million bankruptcy loan.
Town hall meeting addresses drug and alcohol epidemic in Greene County
It was standing room only inside the main courtroom of the Greene County Courthouse on Oct. 8, as several hundred residents, officials, educators, law enforcement officers and representatives from various community services agencies and organizations gathered for a very important town hall meeting.
The meeting, featuring the theme of “Taking Back Our County,” was held to begin open discussions about the ongoing epidemic of drug and alcohol addiction impacting the county. And although many different types of drugs were discussed throughout the evening, it was no surprise that the focal topic dominating the evening was heroin abuse.
The town hall meeting was overseen by Greene County President Judge Farley Toothman, who welcomed the large crowd and panel of guest speakers and thanked them for coming together to address the epidemic.
Toothman expressed his gratitude that the courts served as sponsor for this inaugural discussion on addiction, specifically heroin addiction, that is prevalent “in all our backyards,” he said.
The panel’s guest speakers focused on topics such as educating youths about the dangers of drugs and alcohol, how the epidemic is impacting the area and what resources and services are available to those in need of help. And most importantly, they agreed that prevention is the most vital weapon in the war against addiction.
Most who spoke agreed that there is no easy solution to the problem, but stressed that all aspects of the community – parents, schools, churches, law enforcement and service agencies – need to work together in fighting the epidemic, and that parents need to talk to their children about drug and alcohol abuse.
Following the panelists’ comments, several individuals in recovery spoke honestly and emotionally about their addictions and their difficult but inspiring roads to recovery.
The evening concluded with a question and answer session, in which audience members expressed their frustrations about the epidemic and shared personal stories of how their loved ones faced addiction. Several people directly asked the panel what specifically could be done to end the epidemic, while others said they felt action needed to be immediately taken.
Several panel members, and Toothman himself, stressed that although there was no concrete plan in motion currently to end the epidemic, they felt that the goal of the town hall meeting was to bring the community together to begin openly addressing the issue and working together to one day find a solution.
Toothman concluded by stating that more meetings are anticipated to take place in the future.
Dayich wins close judicial contest in November election
In an incredibly close race during the Nov. 3 election for the seat of Greene County Court of Common Pleas Judge, Democratic candidate Lou Dayich defeated Republican candidate Jeffry Grimes.
Dayich had previously served as a magisterial district judge for the county. Dayich and Grimes were vying to replace Judge William Nalitz, who retired in December 2014.
During the May primary, the candidates cross-filed and their names appeared on both the Democratic and Republican ballots. Dayich won the Democratic ballot and Grimes won the Republican ballot during the primary.
Greene did not become a two-judge county until Nalitz was elected in 1997, joining Judge H. Terry Grimes. Nalitz was retained for a second term in 2007, becoming president judge in 2009 following Grimes’ retirement that year.
To fill the vacancy left by Grimes’ retirement, then-Gov. Ed Rendell appointed Farley Toothman, a former county commissioner and solicitor, who subsequently ran for a full, 10-year term in 2011, capturing both party nominations.
Three years later, in December 2014, Nalitz retired at the mandatory age of 70, leaving Greene County as a one-judge county again.
Meanwhile, in the race for the three seats on the board of county commissioners, voters cast their ballots for Democrat Blair Zimmerman, who won his first full four-year term after his appointment to the board in 2012; Republican incumbent Archie Trader, who won his third term; and Democrat Dave Coder, who served as county commissioner from 1996 to 2010, before stepping away to become district director to former U.S. Rep. Mark Critz.
Bomb threat reported at MBM
Students at Margaret Bell Middle School were moved to Waynesburg University’s football stadium on Nov. 17 when a bomb threat was found in the girls’ bathroom in the afternoon.
Central Greene Superintendent Brian Uplinger said parents were notified about the situation through an automated message system and through the district’s mobile phone app. He also said students taken to the stadium were picked up by school buses or by their parents.
In a message to parents that was posted on Facebook Tuesday, Uplinger wrote: “We have received a bomb threat at Margaret Bell Miller Middle School. All students and staff have been safely evacuated to a safety zone and are under shelter. The police department is on site sweeping the building at this time. I will update you with further developments. I implore you not to go to MBM.”
Evening activities at the middle school were canceled and students were not permitted to bring any backpacks or large purses to school Wednesday.
This is the second bomb threat at the middle school this calendar year and the third in the school district.
On Jan. 19, a bomb threat was found written in pencil on a bathroom stall in the school by a faculty member and after the threat was found, the 450 MBM students were then evacuated to a secure nearby indoor location.
The next day, a student at the school reportedly confessed to making the threat.
After the incident, Uplinger said, “We want them (the students) to know that this is serious, and that engaging in this kind of behavior will not be tolerated in our schools.”
Less than a month ago, on Oct. 28, a bomb threat forced Waynesburg Central High School to cancel after-school activities and again, Uplinger instituted a ban on students bringing backpacks and large purses to school.
The building was swept with local and Pittsburgh based K-9 Units.