CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state may sell a failed West Virginia intermodal hub, built for $32 million, for as little as $1 million — a prospect that drew objections Tuesday from legislators.
The Heartland Intermodal Gateway in Prichard, W.Va., opened in December 2015 with the goal of handling 15,000 containers a year, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reports. It closed earlier this year after handling as few as 20 containers a month. Norfolk Southern stopped serving the 100-acre facility, built on land donated by the railroad, on Oct. 1.
The state is seeking bids from real estate auction companies to sell the facility, Transportation Secretary Byrd White said, but legislators asked that any auction be delayed until after the legislature returns in January.
State Sen. Robert Plymale argued during a Tuesday meeting of oversight committees on transportation and infrastructure that the facility “has been so mishandled by the [state Department of Transportation] and the Port Authority. … I’ve never seen anything so mishandled.” The Port Authority had not met for two years before a new member was appointed in July, Plymale said, to create a quorum for a meeting to authorize sale of the facility. Another legislator expressed concern that the state would get “mere pennies on the dollar for what was invested.”
