BELLE, KANAWHA COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA · MANUFACTURING
Archive item · Events of August 12 – September 22, 2026
What happened: West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection issued a final air quality permit to Clean-Seas West Virginia, a subsidiary of Clean Vision Corp., for a plastics pyrolysis plant in the former 84 Lumber building in Belle, West Virginia Watch’s Caity Coyne reported on August 13. The plant would heat plastic into pyrolysis oil, synthetic gas and solid residue for petrochemical use.
Claim: Opponents, citing the Ohio River Valley Institute, said the parent company has earned less than $614,000 from pyrolysis since 2023 while accumulating nearly $58 million in deficits.
Check: The figures come from an advocacy analysis of the company’s filings; we did not independently audit them. The agency’s answer was narrower: it said residents’ concerns “did not violate the state’s set standards for issuing air quality permits.” Financial viability is not an air-permit criterion.
Concern: The site is a few hundred feet from Riverside High School and Midland Trail Elementary. Nearly 1,000 residents signed a petition, and the town of East Bank passed an opposition resolution.
Outcome: Permitted, not yet built. Organizers held a community meeting on September 22, West Virginia Watch’s Lori Kersey reported.
Location Decision takeaway
An air permit answers one question: whether emissions meet state limits. Siting near schools and a sponsor’s staying power are separate questions that local officials, lenders and economic developers should ask before a permit is granted.
Original reporting: Caity Coyne, West Virginia Watch, August 13, 2026. Follow-up: Lori Kersey, West Virginia Watch, September 19, 2026.
About this item: Contested Ground items are sourced and written by AI from the credited reporting and public records linked above, following Location Decision’s editorial standards. We publish them to track disputes over what America builds and to inform Location Decision’s broader editorial analysis. They are not independent reporting by our staff.