As a part of an intensive program to prevent environmental damage during road construction, the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) has performed detailed studies throughout the area of the Coalfields Expressway. The report of these studies, the Final Environmental Impact Statement, has been reviewed and approved at both state and federal levels.
Subsequently, when the first section of highway was advertised for bids in March of 2000, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers raised further questions, delaying the project. WVDOH then dispatched environmental consultants to the scene, to develop material, which answered the Corps' concerns regarding the impacts the project could have on nearby streams. Those materials were hand delivered in May, and no further delay is expected in this area.
Scientists have surveyed the entire route to ensure that no significant damage will occur to endangered species, and that there will be minimal encroachment on any floodplain area or wetlands. For example, the preferred alternative involves only five acres of wetlands over the entire 65-mile length of the project.
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