CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed House Bill 4009 Wednesday, authorizing portable benefit accounts in West Virginia.

The Voluntary Portable Benefits Plan Act gives businesses the option to provide benefits for independent contractors without reclassifying those workers as employees.

The measure permits companies to offer insurance and retirement while keeping workers as an independent contractor.

Contributions may be made using funds of the employer or withholding a percentage of payment from employees.

Lawmakers estimate more than 90,000 independent contractors are in West Virginia.

BELLE, W.Va. — A plastic repurposing plant was the topic of a multi-hour town hall meeting in eastern Kanawha County hosted by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

Over 50 residents in the town of Belle attended a public comment hearing Tuesday evening to learn more about a proposed plastic-conversion facility planned for the area. The plant is planned at the former 84 Lumber property along Dupont Ave.

Clean-Seas West Virginia is the company seeking an air quality permit from the DEP. The Clean-Seas company website said it converts plastic through a process called pyrolysis, breaking down plastic at the covalent bond level, and repurposes it into new plastics, fuels, and industrial chemicals.

Tuesday’s hearing featured DEP and its Division of Air Quality personnel outlining their role in the process, in addition to taking questions from Belle residents. The hearing is mandated in the permit process in a 30-day public comment period. Public comments about the permit will be accepted until July 27 at 5 p.m.

DEP officials emphasized that they can’t control which businesses come to the area, but rather they determine whether Clean-Seas is compliant with DEP and air quality rules and regulations.

Concerns included a myriad of topics. Residents voiced concerns as to how emissions would affect children, how much oversight the Clean-Seas company would have from the DEP, and the overall safety of the proposed plant itself.

Joe Kessler with the Division of Air Quality was one of the officials who took questions during the meeting. One of the concerns he addressed was compliance from the company and how much monitoring would take place from air quality division. He said because their staff can be stretched thin, they can’t constantly monitor every single facility across the state. Instead, he said companies fill out compliance forms — and crews make inspections as necessary.

“Whether we like it or not, we don’t have enough staff to have somebody all the time at every facility across the state,” Kessler said. “That’s obvious. So, we have to build in monitoring for the company to do, and that they have to certify it. There’s a form they certify it with.”

“If we catch them lying, and there are ways to do that, if we feel they’re lying, we can prosecute them criminally, then we can shut the plant down, so there’s a weight behind that,” Kessler continued. “No company is going to want to be issued a violation for lying on their certified record.”

Kessler said it’s not a foolproof system, but rather the reality of having a limited staff.

Morgan King, climate and energy manager with the community organization West Virginia Citizen Action Group, addressed the DEP personnel and said she’s heard a widespread desire to block Clean-Seas from coming to Belle. She said West Virginia Citizen Action is against the plant’s arrival, citing safety concerns.

“The operation poses potential health risks to the people in the upper Kanawha River Valley, especially for those most vulnerable,” King said. “Our students, local schools, and community members who live nearby, and visit the library, the clinic, and the shopping complex.”

Community organizer and Belle resident Eric Caruthers said his entire family would be affected by the Clean-Seas plant. He said his nephew attends Riverside High School, and his sister teaches at Midland Trail Elementary; both schools within a mile from the Clean-Seas property. Caruthers said his parents also live nearby.

Caruthers asked the Division of Air Quality to deny the Clean-Seas’ request for an air permit.

“As a resident, my concern is not based on rhetoric. It is based on proximity and process reality,” Caruthers said. “Heating 50 to 200 tons of plastic daily releases volatile organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, and fine particle matter.”

Caruthers said giving the permit to Clean-Seas would be taking an “unacceptable risk” of harming the Belle community’s health and well-being. He said air permitting relies upon honest self-monitoring and accurate emissions reporting on the part of plants.

“Clean-Seas has repeatedly mischaracterized this operation to the public as a zero emission, green process, when independent data shows that this plastic oil is primarily destined to be burned as industrial fuel,” Caruthers said. “They have already broken community trust through shifted timelines and misleading narratives. These behaviors have caused us to lose all confidence in Clean-Seas as an organization of integrity.”

The pyrolysis process remains “unproven,” Caruthers said, and the Belle community should not be a “testing ground for industrial experimentation.”

Another concerned resident, Martha “Marty” Gibson, said she has health challenges that could be impacted by Clean-Seas.

“I’m asthmatic,” Gibson said. “(When) I see somebody burning a fire, I don’t step out of my house. That makes me a prisoner in my house. and I shouldn’t have to do that. I’m not going to stand still and have a company come in here who only wants to make money, doesn’t care about the people of this state, and let them make me a prisoner in my house as well.”

Clean-Seas has brought equipment to the property already, which is within their rights before receiving a permit, Kessler said. They just can’t “hook up” anything unless that permit is secured.

Learn more about DEP permitting processes here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and states are investigating a surge of cyclosporiasis cases across the country.

Cyclosporiasis, or the disease caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, has been confirmed in 1,645 cases as of July 13 and is under investigation in more than 5,100 additional cases, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC officials said a cluster of cases in four states − Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky − are likely linked.

Data from state health departments suggests the total number of cases could be higher that what’s been publicly reported. In Michigan, officials are tracking more than 2,600 infections as of July 13, according to the state’s Health and Human Services department.

The parasitic infection can cause explosive diarrhea, cramping, nausea and other gastrointestinal symptoms. Officials are probing whether a food or produce item is the source of a surge in cases of cyclosporiasis.

CDC officials said symptoms can appear two days to two weeks after someone is infected with the parasite. The organization also issued a health alert to doctors, other medical providers and public health officials about the outbreak.

This story is developing and will be updated.