Over the past two years, state government agencies have paid West Virginia Paving almost a quarter of a billion dollars for asphalt and paving projects.
But when four West Virginia cities, including Charleston, filed antitrust lawsuits against West Virginia Paving on Wednesday, alleging that the company illegally created a monopoly to choke out competition and inflate prices, the state government didn't join them.
A spokesman for West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said he's aware of the lawsuit, which could recoup money for the cities that sued. The state pays far more for asphalt and paving highways than any city does.
West Virginia Paving and the subsidiaries it's acquired over the years - including Southern West Virginia Paving Inc., Southern West Virginia Asphalt Inc., Kelly Paving Inc. and Camden Materials LLC - are the state's largest outside vendors.
The state government has done business with West Virginia Paving for decades. Since 1994, the state has paid West Virginia Paving $1.5 billion for asphalt and road projects.
Records from the state Auditor's Office show that, since September 2014, the government has paid West Virginia Paving $248 million.
During the same time, the state has paid other companies owned or operated by West Virginia Paving for various services. In the past two years, the state paid $57.6 million to Kelly Paving; $50,000 to Southern West Virginia Paving; $170,000 to Southern West Virginia Asphalt; and $13,000 to American Asphalt of West Virginia.
All of those companies are listed as defendants in the lawsuits filed Wednesday by the cities of Charleston, Beckley, Parkersburg and Bluefield. The lawsuits were filed by Ben Bailey and Michael Hissam, of the Bailey & Glasser law firm.
When reached by telephone Thursday, Morrisey told a reporter to direct questions to his press secretary, and then hung up.
Morrisey spokesman Curtis Johnson said the Attorney General's Office is aware of the lawsuit.
"Our office will not comment on matters that may be under investigation," Johnson said in a written statement after he was asked if Morrisey or his associates spoke to attorneys with Bailey & Glasser about the case.
Charleston Mayor Danny Jones wants to know why the state hasn't joined the lawsuits.
"[Morrisey] has known about the lawsuit for quite some time," the mayor said. "I think he should be up front on it, as the chief legal officer for the state."
Jones added, "Maybe the governor needs to hire another law firm ... if the attorney general won't act on his own."
Revenue collected from Charleston's user fee, which charges $2.50 per week for anyone who works within city limits, is used mostly to help pay for asphalt and paving projects, Jones noted.
"Every dollar matters," he said, "and if we're getting overcharged for pavement, then it matters even more."
Jones interviewed Hissam, one of the attorneys heading up the lawsuit, on the mayor's WCHS radio show Thursday.
Hissam said the state likely also paid more than it should have to West Virginia Paving and its sister companies over the past decade. He said the state might want to pursue action in the future.
The complaint filed by Charleston alleges that West Virginia Paving acquired at least 15 asphalt plants that previously competed against each other, after those plants offered more-competitive prices and began taking asphalt sales from the defendants. In many cases, West Virginia Paving allegedly shut down competing asphalt plants after acquiring them.
"Controlling both the supply of asphalt and owning paving contractors that apply the asphalt has foreclosed potential rival paving companies from bidding against Defendants," the complaint states.
It says the cities involved in the lawsuit have paid 40 percent more per ton of asphalt than in competitive areas in neighboring states when they purchased paving from the defendants.
Every payment the city of Charleston has made since 2006 for asphalt paving services was to companies owned or controlled by West Virginia Paving, though operating under different names, according to the lawsuit filed by the city.
In at least 30 of the state's 55 counties, West Virginia Paving and the companies it owns or controls have more than 80 percent of the market share, according to the lawsuit.
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.