WV environmental groups file suit over Clean Water Act violations in Harrison County

Two West Virginia environmental groups filed suit against a carbon and graphite material manufacturer in Harrison County over repeated violations of the Clean Water Act.

The lawsuit was filed by the West Virginia Rivers Coalition and the Highlands Conservancy in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia last month. In their suit, the organizations are asking the court to order Amsted Graphite Materials LLC to comply with the limits set in its water discharge permit, prevent future violations and pay civil penalties for the harms already caused.

The potentially hazardous discharges, per the suit, are occurring near Anmoore.

“West Virginians have a right to clean water, and companies that discharge into our streams have a responsibility to follow the law,” said Olivia Miller, interim executive director of the Highlands Conservancy, in a news release. “This case is about protecting Anmoore Run, Elk Creek, the West Fork River and the communities and people downstream who rely on healthy waterways.”

Per the complaint, members of the environmental groups who are residents in the area surrounding Amsted Graphite’s activities have seen the waterways change. Some run businesses that depend on the water being clean and safe for both their income and recreational purposes.

“Because of discharges of toxic pollutants from that facility, (residents) enjoy their visits to the affected waters less than they would if pollution from Amsted Graphite were not a concern. Their aesthetic and recreational enjoyment has been reduced as a result of their concerns about the health of aquatic life and the health risks that pollution poses to them each personally,” the suit reads. “In addition, (the residents) understand that continued discharges of pollution threaten their business interests, which are dependent upon the health of the West Fork River as a productive fishery.”

The Rivers Coalition and Highlands Conservancy allege in their complaint that all harms would cease to exist if the current and potential future “unlawful discharges” were ordered to be stopped through an injunction.

Amsted Graphite has held an NPDES — or National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System — permit for years. The most recent one was granted in 2021 and expired last month, on April 27, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. Per the DEP’s permitting database, the company applied in October 2025 to renew the permit. That renewal application is still pending.

Through its NPDES permit, Amsted Graphite was authorized to discharge limited amounts of manufacturing wastewater and storm runoff into small tributaries in the region, about two miles from Elk Creek. That creek eventually runs into the Monongahela River.

The permit also required Amsted Graphite to invest in upgrades that would allow its discharges to remain below the limitations set in the permit. Between 2023 — when the upgrades were initially ordered to be completed — and 2024, the state’s Environmental Quality Board repeatedly extended deadlines for the completion of the infrastructure. In January 2024, the DEP issued a consent order that outlined “interim limits” for the company, however by April the upgrades still were not completed.

Attorneys for the environmental groups argue in the complaint that the consent order from 2024 “does not and cannot modify Amsted’s NPDES permit requirements.” 

While the infrastructure upgrades remained incomplete, attorneys allege that Amsted Graphite repeatedly exceeded limits set in its permit for numerous pollutants, including lead, copper, zinc and several organic chemical compounds. Per the federal Environmental Protection Agency, several of these chemicals are classified as toxic pollutants. Those allegations are enforced by copies of Amsted Graphite’s own internal monitoring reports, which were attached as exhibits in the suit. 

Exceeding the discharge limits for these chemicals is a clear violation of the Clean Water Act, the suit argues. 

“Clean water laws only work if they’re followed and enforced,” said Jennie Smith, executive director of the Rivers Coalition. “Our review of Amsted’s own monitoring reports shows a pattern of violations that put Anmoore Run and downstream communities at risk. That’s why we are taking legal action to ensure this company stays within its permit, reduces pollution, and protects our waterways and West Virginians.”

And the potential pollution in the water isn’t the only issue residents in Anmoore are experiencing because of Amsted Graphite. According to WBOY, locals last month filed complaints with the DEP over black dust coming from the company’s factory. The dust, they told the station, coated yards and houses and sparked concerns over potential public health risks.

The DEP, per WBOY, said the dust is carbon dust from the factory and was not “acutely” dangerous, though it could cause respiratory or skin irritation. The DEP told the TV station that it would continue to investigate to ensure no environmental rules were being broken.