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Mayor: Weirton turning a corner in water crisis

LEVELS RISING – In recent days, water levels are increasing to the three water tanks which serve the Weirton Heights area of the city, including this one along Penco Road. Weirton officials believe all residents should have service restored in the coming days. -- Craig Howell

WEIRTON — While the city remains under a mandatory water conservation order, and a boil order is still in effect for all Weirton Heights neighborhoods, Weirton officials believe they have “turned a corner” in the city’s water crisis.

Mayor Dean Harris explained, thanks to Cleveland-Cliffs repairing its own water lines and resuming pumping into an intake near Virginia Avenue, water levels have begun to improve throughout Weirton’s distribution system.

That includes regaining necessary water levels for the Lee Avenue reservoir on Marland Heights, which allowed the Weirton Area Water Board crews to activate pumps located on Texas Street and Rice Boulevard, sending water into the Weirton Heights area.

“We have water in all of our tanks,” Harris said Monday afternoon.

The Weirton Heights area of the city is served by three tanks – one on Penco Road, one on Belleview Drive, and the east end tank along Colliers Way. Tanks also are located on Skyview Drive in the Weircrest area and along Barone Drive on Marland Heights.

With water returning to all areas of the system, the mayor estimates most, if not all water customers, should have some level of water service restored, but warned there is still some work to address before the water emergency can be considered over.

“We’re not completely there yet,” Harris said, explaining efforts are continuing to locate breaks in the system and return stability of service. “With every break we fix, the better opportunity we have to get water back to the customers.”

Meanwhile, distribution of bottled water and non-potable water for those residents still without service will be available 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily at the Gilson Avenue Fire Station. Residents must provide proof of residency. A distribution at the County Road Fire Station was discontinued Tuesday.

The Oakland Public Service District, including Golden Keys, should have full restoration, Harris said. Hancock County officials previously noted 211 homes and approximately 140 livestock received water, in part, from the Weirton Area Water Board through an agreement with the Oakland PSD.

Harris did note some line breaks have been discovered in customer laterals connecting a home or business to the public water lines. Repairs to those lines are the responsibility of the customer, and the mayor indicated in some instances, service has been shut off to those lines as a result of the breaks.

As for any kind of billing adjustments to customers, Harris said that is a decision for the Weirton Area Water Board, though he did explain they could be limited by regulations of the West Virginia Public Service Commission.

“We do appreciate the patience of the residents,” Harris said. “The vast majority of people understand.”

Through it all, officials credit the employees of the Weirton Area Water Board, who have been working around the clock, often in cold weather, to address the issues.

“None of this is possible without those guys going out and repairing those leaks,” Harris said. “They deserve a tremendous amount of credit.”

Harris also extended his appreciation to Gov. Patrick Morrisey for assistance in acquiring water to distribute to residents without service, and to state Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke, who helped arrange for a three-person leak detection team from West Virginia American Water. The team has been assisting local crews in searching for leaks throughout the system, with Harris noting scans have been completed in Marland Heights and downtown Weirton, along with a portion of Weirton Heights. The outside team is expected to remain in Weirton over the next few days to complete searches in Weirton Heights, the mayor added.

Assistance also has been made available through the efforts of the Hancock County Commission and the Hancock County Office of Emergency Management, the West Virginia Bureau of Public Health, West Virginia Office of Emergency Services, Brooke County Emergency Management, Hancock County Health Department, Del. Mark Zatezalo and Del. Pat McGeehan, both R-Hancock.

The conservation order was issued Dec. 18 following a series of water line breaks in the city, with a city-wide boil order issued Dec. 27 after a break in a 12-inch main water line on Walnut Street led to outages throughout the city.

The city-wide boil order was partially lifted on Dec. 31, with a full lift of the order announced Jan. 3.

However, on Jan. 22, officials notified residents water tank levels had been diminished, and some areas of the city would experience low to no water pressure. A new, ongoing boil order for Weirton Heights was issued Jan. 23.

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