Attorney H. Truman Chafin (left) poses with some of the plaintiffs in the 12 lawsuits filed February 20 against the Mingo County Public Service District.
WILLIAMSON – More than 20 residents of a Mingo County community have filed a lawsuit claiming the Mingo County Public Service District allowed the local Rawl Sewage Treatment Package Plant to become a health and safety hazard.
The dozen lawsuits, filed February 20 in Mingo Circuit Court, also says the MCPSD fraudulently billed residents for services they never received.
The complaints say the Rawl facility, which was built in 1979, has been in a state of “steady deterioration” since the MCPSD acquired it in 2010. The plant now is described as “defunct” with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection rating it “unsatisfactory” in multiple inspections.
Tish (left) and Truman Chafin
“The Rawl Sewage Plant is a health and safety hazard to the plaintiffs and the entire community,” say the complaints, filed by attorneys H. Truman Chafin, Tish Chafin and Stacey Kohari of the Chafin Law Firm in Williamson.
Residents seek to hold the district accountable for the “severe annoyance, discomfort and inconvenience” caused by years of neglect, the complaint states.
The attorneys say the community near the plant, which is located near Dick Williamson Branch Road and Francis Drive, is “under siege,” saying the non-functioning plant allows raw sewage to be discharged into ditches, storm drains, nearby rivers and onto residents’ private property.
That has led to extremely noxious odors, a vermin infestation and an unsafe infrastructure since a power pole fell into the plant in early 2025 and disconnected electrical service to the facility.
“Residents report being unable to sit on their porches, use their yards or swim in their pools due to the stench, which has caused headaches and sleep deprivation,” the attorneys said in a press release. “An influx of ‘large rats’ has plagued the neighborhood, drawn to the unprocessed sewage spilling from the plant.”
In addition, the lawsuits claim the MCPSD continued to bill households monthly for sewage services not being rendered despite knowing the plant was inoperable and lacked electrical power.
The complaints cite numerous Notices of Violation issued by the DEP, including 34 permit violations in 2023 and 2024. The DEP also recently rejected the MCPSD’s corrective action plan, noting it failed to provide a timeline for replacing the facility.
The plant was built to serve about 20 households and was maintained by the Rawl Homeowner's Association without incident until it was transferred to the MCPSD in 2010. The complaint says the MCPSD acquired the plant when it was at the end of its useful lifespan of 15 to 20 years for a steel tank.
The complaint says the MCPSD developed no plan to repair or replace the plant, which now served about 12 households and two dozen residents.
In August 2020, the DEP inspected the plant and noted it was in “terrible shape due to rusting/corrosion.”
In July 2023, the DEP noted “the condition of the ... plant and the area surrounding the plant... deteriorated making a thorough inspection unsafe.” Two months later, a DEP memo says “the Rawl package plant needs to be replaced per our conversation . . . two engineering firms looking to acquire funding to replace ... Currently we are trying to keep air to the plant and keep as many solids pumped out as we safely can without what is left of the plant collapsing.”
In January 2025, the DEP said it couldn’t make a thorough inspection of the plant because of the unsafe condition of the facility, saying “the entirety of the plant was septic and in very poor condition.”
In July 2025, the MCPSD contracted with Cook's Sanitation Services for the operation of several sewage plants including the Rawl Sewage Plant. The company noted the “entire plant needs to be replaced. … It is too dangerous to even go into the fence.”
The plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction to mandate the MCPSD to immediately make the sewage treatment plant functional and to bring it into compliance with the permits. They also seek damages for negligence, property damage, private nuisance and fraud.
The cases have been assigned to Circuit Judge Joshua Butcher, who has set a hearing on the preliminary injunction for March 3.
Mingo Circuit Court case numbers 26-C-22 through 26-C-33
