APPLE GROVE, W.Va. (WVDN) – The Mason County Public Service District had a lot to celebrate last week. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Friday, Nov. 21 to mark the conclusion of construction on the long-awaited Apple Grove Wastewater Treatment Plant. The facility, a key piece in bringing Nucor to West Virginia, will serve the new steel plant and approximately 200 additional homes in the area.
While the construction process only took about 18 months, planning for the facility started long ago.
The Apple Grove site has been a property ready for development for decades. Many times over the years companies had looked at locating here, but utility access was always an impediment. In 2019, the Mason County Economic Development Authority decided to change that fate. They secured a grant from the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the planning and engineering design work necessary to create a sanitary sewer system to serve the site.
The Thrasher Group was hired to take on the project alongside the Mason County Public Service District. As their plans neared completion, the decision that Nucor Steel would be locating at Apple Grove was officially announced. The plans being put in place were a critical part of their choice – knowing sanitary sewer service was available for their world-class facility was a must, and Mason County PSD was making it happen.
“This is undoubtedly one of the most important projects I’ve been a part of,” said Jonathan Carpenter, principal engineer with The Thrasher Group. “Sanitary sewer work is not a glamorous topic and not one people think about all too often, but this wastewater treatment plant and the collection system improvements underway have been a critical catalyst for the unprecedented growth happening in Mason County.”
Construction of the project came in at approximately $15.6 million, paid for entirely by grant funding. A combination of local, state, and federal funds were a part of the package, underscoring the full-scale community effort required for projects of this magnitude.
Nucor itself was a major contributor. The company donated the 10 acres of land that the wastewater treatment plant sits on, as well as the thousands of cubic yards of fill dirt that was required to raise the site up approximately 13 feet in order to construct the plant above the floodplain.
That’s not to mention the incredible number of jobs Nucor is contributing to the region as well. That was one of the major themes in West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey’s remarks for the day.
“These jobs, they’re not just written on paper, they’re not just statistics,” Morrisey stated. “They’re real things for the families in this area. Taking an area that had some real economic duress and challenges – and now Mason County and Putnam County and all the areas around you, we get to lift these communities up. We get to have more people stay at home knowing that the job opportunities for them are going to be off the charts. That’s what it’s all about.”
In addition to serving the steel plant, this wastewater treatment plant will also bring sewer service to 200 additional residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the area who have never had public sanitary service before. As part of that, Ashton Elementary School will receive service, removing the need for the unreliable package plant currently in place. Additional capacity was built into the plant as well, allowing room for more customers as development in the county continues.
“Sanitary sewer service is a game changer, and this facility is a testament to that,” said Brent Clark, Mason County Public Service District manager. “This project has been long in the making and I’m so proud to see it finally coming to life. It will have an impact on our community for years to come.”
The plant is anticipated to officially go into service around the first of the year.
