FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, August 27, 2022
CONTACT: Jordan Damron, [email protected]
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West Virginia Week In Review
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On Tuesday, Gov. Jim Justice toured areas impacted by recent flooding near Hughes Creek and Campbells Creek in Kanawha County. After the tour, the Governor and local officials spoke to media about clean-up plans. Those who were affected by the August 15 storms can fill out a survey to report damages.
The State of Emergency for Kanawha and Fayette Counties will remain in effect until September 15 unless terminated by subsequent Proclamation.
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All lanes of the West Virginia Turnpike reopened Thursday evening following a hazardous chemical spill that shut down the highway near Pax in Fayette County. The accident happened in the northbound lane on the Skitter Creek Bridge just after midnight Thursday, Aug. 25, when the driver lost control, jackknifed, and crossed the barrier wall. The crash blocked both northbound and southbound lanes.
The West Virginia DEP emergency response team, Pax Fire Department, West Virginia State Police, and West Virginia Parkways Authority crews contained the chemical spill early in the morning. Crews from industrial cleanup company Clean Harbors, from Nitro, arrived on site at about noon and began the chemical cleanup of the truck and roadway.
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During his Thursday COVID-19 briefing, Gov. Justice reminded West Virginians that the application portal for the Mountaineer Rental Assistance Program would be closing at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, August 26. Renters struggling to pay rent or utilities because of financial hardship during or due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were eligible for assistance through the program.
Since spring 2021, the program had distributed more than $139 million and processed more than 45,000 claims.
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Construction work is on schedule to open the new Donald M. Legg Memorial Bridge to traffic by the end of the year.
The new bridge being built between the Nitro and St. Albans interchanges is part of an approximately $225 million project funded through Gov. Jim Justice's Roads to Prosperity Program. The project will widen I-64 between the bridge and the US 35 interchange and ease congestion over the existing bridge.
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West Virginia Division of Highways road crews from North Charleston recently worked through the night to reopen a road that had been washed out by flooding; this week the agency shared dramatic photos of the emergency repair as an important safety reminder to drivers.
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The West Virginia Parkways Authority will begin construction on an Accelerated Bridge Deck Replacement (ABC) project on the West Virginia Turnpike near Pax beginning at 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The bridge deck replacement, at milepost 51.53 northbound, is expected to be completed by Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022.
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The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, Bureau for Public Health, Division of Health Promotion and Chronic Disease announced Berkeley and Kanawha counties as recipients of Celebrating Healthy West Virginia awards, which recognize advanced community-level commitment to supporting healthy choices.
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The 32nd annual Great Kanawha River Cleanup, sponsored by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan’s Make It Shine program, is set for Saturday, Sept. 10 from 8 a.m. to noon.
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