Richard Latterell

Richard L. Latterell (b. March 14, 1928) is an American environmental activist, He was a Biology professor at Shepherd University from 1968 to 1992. He founded the Jefferson County Watersheds Coalition, has led an annual cleanup of the Potomac River near Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and has conducted spring and fall counts of macroinvertebrate species in streams in Jefferson County, West Virginia. The presence and diversity of species have shown poor water quality in most streams, because of sediment from construction sites and inadequately treated sewer plant effluent.

Legal Action

Latterell was one of the plaintiffs in the landmark case, decided in 2003, on rules concerning degradation of West Virginia waters, OVEC v. EPA 3:02-0059 US District Court for Southern District of West Virginia, Huntington Division. The case won stricter rules protecting water quality.

Latterell was also one of the plaintiffs in the first successful case stopping a subdivision at the Jefferson County Board of Zoning Appeals, the Thorn Hill case in 2000. Later he and others appealed other variations of the Thorn Hill subdivision, and his initial win in West Virginia Circuit Court was ultimately overturned by later decisions in Circuit Court. From 2004 to 2007 he and other citizens were the targets of a SLAPP suit by the Thorn Hill developers for two million dollars in damages alleged based on their opposition to Thorn Hill. The judge decided for the citizens and against the developers.

Latterell also participated in cases on pollution at the West Virginia Public Service Commission and Environmental Quality Board.

He and his wife, Frances Meehan Latterell, took soil samples at a former apple orchard proposed for the Huntfield subdivision, and found high levels of lead and arsenic, from the lead arsenate formerly used as an insecticide. The developer, who had not reported test results for lead and arsenic, committed to stripping the polluted soil and encapsulating it in berms.

Other Activities

From 2000 to 2005, the Latterells helped write "Vision 2020", a plan for Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and its area.

Vegetarian, atheist, and childless, in 2005 the Latterells put their farm under a perpetual conservation easement with the Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board and the Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle. The farm has a cave where bats winter over, now gated to protect them from intruders.

References

[http://www.wv.nrcs.usda.gov/news/success/05mar/05frpp.html Description of farm and easement]

[http://www.wvsd.uscourts.gov/district/opinions/pdf/ovecvepa829.pdf Court opinion in OVEC v. EPA] [http://www.ai.org/idem/rules/progress/water/wpcb0344/antideglibrary/ohiovalleyenvco.pdf Annotated copy of the same opinion]

[http://listeners.homestead.com/files/thsuit.pdf Court opinion in Thornhill v. Latterell]

[http://www.psc.state.wv.us/imaged_files/Orders/2006_01/ord20060106165110.pdf WV Public Service Commission decision]