Mountaineers Are... "Frequently Grossly Tainted"

So says Forbes magazine which ranks West Virginia at the bottom of its recent survey, "America's Greenest States."

"West Virginia posted low scores in every category, notably carbon footprint (fourth highest) and water cleanliness (we ranked it fourth worst)," the state's entry said. "It's got more toxic waste to manage per capita than all but three states. In 2005, it disposed of or released 97.1 million lbs of toxic waste."

But, wait, there's more.

"The state exceeded its Clean Water Act permit levels by an average of 679% in 2005, according to U.S. PIRG," the article continues. "This means the water was frequently grossly tainted."

West Virginia officials "dismissed the rating, saying it was based on misleading data and a subjective scoring system," The Charleston Gazette reports.

“If I had to pay for it, I wouldn’t,” Environmental Protection Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer told the newspaper. “I’m not giving a lot of credence to the ranking.”