Blackwater Canyon -- Merely a Pawn for Profits?

Slick, devious maneuvers by John Crites’ Allegheny Wood Products in the Blackwater Canyon are the kind of activities that give business a bad name. Wily, connected, secretive,... . These are not bad things. They can make the difference between success and failure in business, and Crites has managed to be hugely successful. But where is the line between profit and greed? When does sharp become shady? How does a political ally become a political liability? Why must public values be sacrificed to private gain? These and other troubling questions demand answers in light of past and present abuses in Blackwater Canyon.

Crites has proved himself too clever by half as he manipulates and distorts in his apparent efforts to wring the last dollar from the Blackwater. Disregarding public values as well as expressions of deep concern from the Underwood administration, Crites forges ahead with ploys and deceptions, issuing double-speak pronouncements that only heighten the alarm of citizens and public officials alike. In the process he has not only badly damaged his own reputation, but he has made fools of everyone from the individual citizen to the highest elected officials.

In the latest episode in the saga of the planned destruction of the Blackwater Canyon’s scenic, recreational, and wildlife values, we learned of Crites’ plans to build a huge resort development in the Canyon. Nearly four hundred lots and residences, along with miles of roads and water and sewer systems, would disfigure Lindy Point and the shores of the Blackwater River itself. Scenic vistas from Blackwater Falls State Park, widely regarded as a crown jewel of West Virginia’s park system, would be marred. Resort traffic access through the Park would choke it with residential, delivery, and construction traffic.

The proposed resort would use the Blackwater River and its tributaries to dispose of sewage. To the tune of 300,000 gallons per day of pollution, this would be roughly equivalent to flushing two toilets per second (yes, per second!) every second of every day. This generous contribution to the downstream communities of Hambleton, Hendricks, Parsons, and more along the Black Fork and Cheat Rivers may not be especially appreciated by residents and other river users.

State officials from the state park system to the water pollution regulators objected to these plans. But wait -- Now comes forth a pronouncement from the company. There’s nothing to worry about! We were just kidding. You don’t think we’d really build all those condos or whatever in the Blackwater Canyon -- do you? It was all just a sham, a ploy, a clever manipulation. Let us explain.

Remember when we laid out stakes and surveyed off lots all along the Canyon rim? Remember when we demanded electric access into the Canyon from the state park? And when we asked the Forest Service to stop letting people use the public road and rail trail in the Canyon? And when we filed detailed, elaborate, costly development plans with state agencies? We didn’t mean anything -- don’t worry, be happy!

To which an alarmed public responded: "Yeah...uh huh...right. What are we, stupid?"

Crites’ shenanigans have embarrassed many of his former supporters, and made fools of some highly respected public figures. Governors and United States senators, for example, no matter what their party or political leaning, demand

respect by virtue of the very offices they hold. Yet Governor Underwood and Senator Rockefeller have been tricked and made to look foolish. They and the citizens of West Virginia do not take lightly to this sort of thing.

Senator Rockefeller, seeking some sort of compromise to help protect Blackwater Canyon, brokered a proposed land swap between Crites and the U. S. Forest Service. Documents reveal, however, that plans for the resort development on the same land were well under way at that time.

Governor Underwood, a beneficiary of political contributions from Crites, stood by Crites in the past. Of course, his support reflected assurances that the company had no development plans for the Canyon. Imagine the governor’s surprise to find that agencies of his own administration were working on permit applications for the resort development. Governors, like most of us, don’t like surprises. The governor must be wondering when his ally becomes a liability. Being tricked into seeming to condone expanded desecration of the Blackwater Canyon cannot sit well with a governor about to seek reelection.

Which is the truth? Statements about not developing the Canyon, or formal documentation of plans for that development? Which is fair? To use public agencies to advance destructive development plans, or to waste their time and resources on fake permits?

Business ethics: It’s not an oxymoron , or is it?

Jim Sconyers is an employee of the Sierra Club