by Caity Coyne, West Virginia Watch
September 22, 2025

GILBERT, W.Va. — At a public hearing last Thursday for two proposed natural gas plants in Mingo County, resident Pam Surber had a message for regulators from the state Department of Environmental Protection: “We were here first.”

At 63 years old — and turning 64 in two months — Surber said she’s lived in Gilbert for all but five years of her life. Wearing a shirt with a family photo on it featuring her children and grandchildren, Surber told members of the DEP’s Division of Air Quality that she and her neighbors weren’t willing to sacrifice their health for the emission-heavy development proposed by New York-based TransGas.

“I have a 6-year-old granddaughter here; I don’t want this to affect her life. [The developers] are only putting the dollar before our health and our lives in this area,” Surber said. “This is where we grew up, and I don’t want to live anywhere else. But I don’t want this to come in and make everything worse.”

The public hearing was held for residents to share their thoughts on two air quality permits pending before the DEP. If approved, TransGas would be given the greenlight from the state to construct two new methane- and diesel-burning natural gas power plants. Per the near-identical applications, the plants would operate as “microgrids,” powering two new data centers: one at the Twisted Gun Golf Course in Wharncliffe and another near the Mingo-Logan county line at the Harless Industrial Park, in Holden.

Over almost four hours, dozens of residents from throughout Mingo County came to speak and listen in a room at the Larry Joe Harless Community Center on Thursday. The meeting was sprawling; it kicked off with presentations from Joe Kessler, program manager at DEP’s Division of Air Quality, and Jerry Williams, an engineer with the division, on the permitting process and the proposed project before transitioning into a question-and-answer section for residents and, finally, public comments.

About 15 residents spoke throughout the meeting. More spoke up from the crowd, supporting statements made by their neighbors and criticizing the DEP. Most residents asked questions about the project while also voicing their discontent and concern with the proposals. Only one person in attendance — Ernie Sammons, the owner of the Twisted Gun Golf Course who has said he knows he’ll benefit personally from the development through his land’s sale — spoke in support of the project.

Standing at the podium at the front of the room, Wharncliffe resident Bobby May asked people to raise their hands if they were against the project. Immediately, almost every hand went in the air. Some in attendance raised both their hands.

“I feel that in the southern part of West Virginia, that we are very vulnerable. That’s why [TransGas] decided to tackle this area. We do not deserve [to have them] profit over our lives and our health. We do not,” May said. “You guys [at the DEP] have got the power to put the hammer down. You guys are supposed to protect us. That’s who you’re supposed to make decisions for. You guys know what’s right and what’s wrong. And it’s wrong when you’re inflicting cancer and diseases and death on a community … All this is, is corporate greed. That’s all this is over our lives.”

All this is, is corporate greed. That’s all this is over our lives.

– Bobby May

According to the nearly identical air quality permit applications filed with the DEP, the two natural gas plants would each house 117 engines powered by methane, with 114 of those running full-time. If no gas is available, the engines would run on diesel that is stored in 40 tanks on each site. 

Annually, per the applications, each facility would have the potential to emit up to 206 tons of carbon monoxide, 194 tons of nitrogen oxides, 118 tons of volatile organic compounds and 188 tons of fine particulate matter, or soot. 

These kinds of emissions are known to negatively affect air quality in surrounding areas and contribute to climate change. People at risk of developing respiratory problems — including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, black lung or other illnesses — are particularly vulnerable to negative health impacts from these emissions.

‘We suffer while they profit:’ Residents angry over lack of communication, answers from TransGas and DEP

While the public comment period for the project was extended (it closed at 5 p.m.Friday), the DEP already made a preliminary determination that the air quality permits for the natural gas facilities will be approved. 

Kessler said this is due to the fact that the emissions and plans detailed in the applications meet all federal and state limits. Usually, Kessler said, when that’s the case then the division is “going to issue the permit” no matter other, unrelated concerns.

“[Our job] is to ensure the state is meeting and complying with [state and federal] standards. We’re not the scientists, we’re not the epidemiologists [setting those standards],” Kessler said. “We’re looking at the rules and regulations and writing a permit to stay in compliance with those rules and regulations…”

Throughout the meeting, residents asked question after question that Kessler said was out of the division’s capacity to answer.

They wanted to know how the project will impact their water quality and availability, what kind of noise and light pollution they can expect, how volatile fuel is going to be transported to the sites and what would happen if anything went wrong at the facilities, among other things.

Over and over, Kessler informed them that the division didn’t have answers. Questions about water, he said, could be answered under a separate permitting process through the DEP’s water division.

Other concerns, however, will likely remain unknown as the state has implemented a law that stops localities from enforcing any statutes — like noise, light or zoning ordinances — against microgrids built to power data centers. All but 30% of the taxes collected where the developments are located would be diverted to the state. Meanwhile, residents will bear 100% of the environmental and health impacts they bring.

Tonya Mounts, an attorney and Gilbert resident, asked Kessler and the other regulators, including Division of Air Quality Director Laura Crowder, what residents would need to do to stop the state from approving these applications and allowing the developments to move forward.

“Submit relevant comments pertaining to the air quality,” Kessler said. “But I’m going to be 100% honest with you — our rules don’t allow us to deny a permit for 500, for 1,000 people standing up and saying they don’t want [a project].”

Mounts asked the regulators if they would feel comfortable living within a mile of these plants and their emissions.

Kessler said he lives within a mile of the DOW Chemical plant in Kanawha County. He said he would “not be afraid” of the air quality. 

Crowder said she lives in St. Albans, within a few miles from the John E. Amos Power Plant.

“So yes, I would live there,” Crowder said. “I raised my son there.”

In the front row, Surber shot to her feet.

“But you choose to live there; we didn’t choose this,” she said. “We were here first.”

In the crowd, her neighbors shouted “Amen,” and “Give it to ‘em, Pam.”

When it was her turn to address regulators directly, Surber scanned the crowd looking for one man: Adam Victor, the president and founder of TransGas.

She asked him to stand, or at least raise his hand, if he was in attendance. He was not.

“Everybody look around this room,” Surber said. “He’s not here. He’s never here.”

Surber asked regulators why they trusted Victor to adequately and safely run two large power plants if he can’t even show his face to the residents his project would affect. Kessler said that, if anything did go wrong, Victor and TransGas would be fined.

“Well you can fine him. I would just like to F-I-N-D him,” Surber said. “I don’t trust him. We don’t know anything about what this will do to our community. Everything has been kept hush-hush about this … [TransGas] doesn’t want us to know.”

Demone Morgan asked if the regulators were willing to be held accountable if this project didn’t go as planned. What would they do, he asked, if people were hurt by the emissions that would come from the development or any of the other potential consequences it could bring for their community. Kessler said that if the plants operated out of compliance, there would be fines.

“We’ve been promised a lot of fancy things here,” Morgan said. “They promise us a bag of stars, then they give us a bag of crap.”

We’ve been promised a lot of fancy things here. They promise us a bag of stars, then they give us a bag of crap.

– Demone Morgan

For decades, the state’s southern coalfields have been struggling economically and otherwise. 

Once flourishing, the decline of the coal industry over the last several decades has led to few employment opportunities and little economic growth or development. 

And as the economy has shrunk, people’s health has simultaneously suffered. The ramifications from generations of active coal mining, and later fracking, include contaminated water supplies and environmental health hazards for those who live there.

Throughout the coalfields, water systems are crumbling. Broadband infrastructure is lacking. Health care and food deserts persist. Developments that bring steady, safe jobs are few and far between.

And yet, Morgan said, promises are always made from those in power or those looking to benefit from the land or its people that they have a solution to turn things around.

Morgan said he’s heard these promises almost his entire life. The people making them, he said, will downplay the risks, telling residents that everything will be fine and that if they just wait, the promises will come to fruition.

“Well, I’ve never seen these promises come true,” Morgan said after Thursday’s meeting. “Not for internet. Not for water. Not for jobs. Not for nothing. Why would this be any different? They don’t care how we suffer while they profit.”

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com.